Lucky Mistakes
by Zinthos XIII
Summary: We all know the old saying, 'dreams can become a reality'...or something like that; wait, is that even a saying? Anyways, but what happens when reality gets mistaken for a dream? A Konata x Kagami story. Please R & R
1. Awakening

Hello everyone. This is my first fanfiction, please read and review afterwards. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Lucky Star_

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**Chapter 1: Awakening**

It was a Friday afternoon when the short otaku girl and her friend, Miyuki, arrived at the Hiiragi residence to visit their friend Kagami, who had taken absent from school because of a flu that had left her in bed with a high fever for the last couple of days.

Konata promptly headed to ring the bell when the front door suddenly opened and Tsukasa, Kagami's younger twin sister, came out.

"Oh, thank goodness you came today," she happily said at the sight of her friends.

"Hey, we came to check on Kagami," said Konata as she waved at Tsukasa.

"Yes, we were worried when you told us that she had a fever last night. Can we please come in?"

"Of course, you came at the best moment. I was on my way out to get more medicine, but I felt bad about leaving Sis alone, since everyone else is out at the moment; so I'm actually glad you came to see her. Just make yourselves at home, while I come back from- . . ." but before she could finish her sentence, the phone rang and she hurried to answer it. As Tsukasa talked on the phone, Miyuki and Konata awaited her return while they took their shoes off.

A couple of minutes later they saw her coming back smiling.

"That was my mom on the phone; she said she was going to get the medicine on her way back, so I don't have to leave Sis."

"I think that's for the best. You can be an easy target without Kagami looking after you; such vulnerable pray," snickered Konata aside, while Tsukasa gave a small whimper.

"So, how's Kagami-san doing?" Miyuki asked nervously changing the subject.

"Oh, she's doing much better right now. Sis had a little bit of fever when I left for school this morning, but fortunately it started going down around noon. She's been resting ever since," said Tsukasa as the group headed upstairs to Kagami's bedroom.

When they opened the room, it was mostly dark with the exception of a small amount of sun light that entered through the curtains, which gave just the enough illumination to see around the room; they decided to leave the lights off so Kagami wouldn't be bothered by them. As they got close to Kagami's bed, they found her fast asleep.

Once they kneel around the low table , they whispered to each other for a while; Miyuki even recalled about the printouts that they'd asked Ayano for, and gave them to Tsukasa so Kagami wouldn't miss her class lectures. Tsukasa was very thankfully to both of them and apologized for leaving abruptly right away by the end of school without waiting for them.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, we know you were worry about Kagami-san," said Miyuki to cheer her up.

"Hey, what's this?" Konata pulled something from under the bed. It was a pair of small cat ears, which she decided to put on, making the other two broke into giggles. Both Tsukasa and Miyuki had to cover their mouth to hold their laughter.

"Tsukasa . . . don't put on that maid's outfit," said a voice coming from the bed. The girls turned in that direction, and noticed that Kagami was somewhat moving. "It looks better on Yuki-chan . . . here, try this one instead," she said again. The two girls been mentioned giggled even more, while Konata frowned and questioned why Kagami didn't said her name in her sleep.

"I guess this means she might start waking up soon," said Tsukasa wiping a tear from laughing. "I should probably start cooking something for when she does wakes up. Yuki-chan, would you mind helping me?"

"Not at all, it will be my pleasure. Konata-san, is it okay if we leave her to you for just a moment?" Miyuki asked as both girls stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Not a problem," replied Konata grinning with her sleepy eyes and giving them a thumps up. Both girls exited the room closing the door behind them.

-o-o-o-

Some twenty minutes went by as Tsukasa and Miyuki returned to the bedroom with Kagami's meal and some drinks, as well. There they found Konata -cat ears gone- sitting down next to the bed, with her back against it, reading one of Kagami's light novels. They walked in without making much noise and head to the table.

"Did she made any signs of waking up yet?" asked Tsukasa as she placed down the trey of food.

"No, not really," replied Konata in a hoarsely voice, which both Miyuki and Tsukasa noticed as they turned in her direction; yet, Konata kept hidding her face behind the book.

"Are you okay, Konata-san?" a concerned Miyuki asked.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Konata lowered the book to glance back at Miyuki. As she did, they noticed her eyes were a bit puffy and red.

"You look tired, Kona-chan."

"What? . . . oh, yeah . . ." she closed the book, rubbed her eyes and gave a soundless yawn. "Well, Tsukasa, that's what happens when you get hooked all night trying out a new online game." She stood up, walked over to Kagami's desk and placed the book back to where it was.

"Really? What kind of game was it this time?"

"What kind? Umm, it's . . . err-" for some reason this question caught Konata off guard. "You know . . . the usual . . . - oh, look at the time! Sorry, but I completely forgot I had some stuff to take care for my dad," Konata awkwardly said as she grabbed hold of her school bag and headed to the door.

"Tsukasa, tell Kagami that I hope she gets better soon; otherwise I won't have someone to copy their homework from," giving a mischievous smiled, she waved goodbye to the other two, who waved back.

Miyuki and Tsukasa kept quiet as they heard Konata walk down the stairs and out the door. Then they heard a rustle coming from the bed; Kagami was moving. They got closer and noticed that her hands were clenching the sheets; once again, she was murmuring something that made no sense to the other two.

"Wait . . . just wait . . . please," it's all she said. Confused, Tsukasa turned to Miyuki for an explanation to what her older sister might be referring to, but Miyuki only gave her a soft smile and told her not to worry.

It took about three minutes later for Kagami to start waking up. She still felt tired and a bit dizzy, but what bothered her most was the pain caused by something massive hammering the insides of her head to the point of making her eyes hurt. Her body felt extremely heavy, but somehow she managed to slowly lift herself up and began rubbing the back of her stiffed neck. Tsukasa stood up and sat next to her.

"Are you feeling better, Sis?"

"I feel as if something really big ran over me," she flickered her eyes, feeling a burning sensation on them as she only managed to see complete blurriness. "And I have to admit . . . I'm kind of hungry, too."

"Then I guess we brought your meal just in time," she stood up and went back to the table, grabbed the trey of food and took it back to Kagami.

"What do you mean by _we_?" Kagami hadn't noticed that there was someone else in the room. Once she did, she rubbed her eyes to clarify her sight. "Miyuki! I'm sorry, I didn't noticed you before. How long have you been here?"

Miyuki, still wearing her polite smile, told Kagami about her arrival with Konata, and of her early departure just a few minutes ago. Tsukasa and Miyuki wanted to update Kagami with what she had missed in school, but they knew that what she needed the most was rest. So they only spoke for a short amount of time, at least while Kagami ate.

Then it was time for Miyuki to head home; both Kagami and Tsukasa thank her for coming, and for the printouts they had brought. Afterwards, Tsukasa left, too, saying she needed to start making dinner, and that Kagami needed to rest some more.

However, Kagami didn't felt like resting, at least not yet. Sure, she felt tired and even exhausted for some reason, but her mind seemed to be awake and longing for something to do. So instead, she occupied her mind with the printouts they had brought for her.

Half an hour went by and Kagami was still reading. She must have had her mind really focused on her reading, because she was completely oblivious of what she was doing. For the last couple of minutes -without a warning- her fingers found themselves caressing her lips. It wasn't until she felt a warm, tingly sensation on them that she realized what was happening.

Her eyes ceased reading, and instead they glanced at her fingers, wondering why they were doing that. That tingly feeling on her lips didn't stopped; instead, she felt something else building up in her chest. It felt really warm.

Suddenly, there was more, but this was different. There was something on the back of her head, something that just kept saying she'd forgotten something.

_. . . but what?_ she thought.

"I can't remember," she set the printouts aside; as the tingly feeling on her lips and the warmth on her chest faded away, she decided to go back to sleep.

However, that awkward sensation on the back of her head never left. Kagami thought about it for a moment, but couldn't come up with anything. All she knew was that over thinking was tiring her, so she drift off to sleep. Two minutes later, her eyes snapped open to the thought that refused to leave.

"Whatta heck did I forget about?"


	2. Somniloquy

Hello again, everyone! Please forgive me for taking some of your reading time, and allow me to give a few words that I couldn't come around to say last time. This is my first story, and I'm trying my best to make it worth it. It all started with something I read a while ago and somehow that gave me an idea for this story. I just hope it turns out okay. Here's the second chapter, please read and review afterwards. Thank You.

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**Chapter 2: Somniloquy**

Kagami was able to return back to class on Monday fully recuperated. During lunch time, the group gathered as usual and had their usual conversations. And, as usual, Konata ended up giving a lecture about the newest online game that she'd played the previous night.

This only lead to Kagami merging into an argument with her, in which Miyuki and Tsukasa didn't paid much attention to, since that sort of event become an everyday routine among them.

"Geez, Konata," said Kagami. "Would it kill you to use common language when you're talking about your online games?"

"But you see, it's not just about trying out a new game, Kagami. One must know how to properly play it; which is why the use of techniques and strategies need to be researched and learned from scratch, along with their proper terms and such," explained Konata smiling as she waved a finger. Kagami on the other hand, just shook her head.

"Seriously, if you could just use that same enthusiasm in school, you wouldn't be bothering people about copying their homework."

Their argument went on for a couple of more minutes; in the end, Konata had agreed to stop her 'nonsense' talking, and instead concentrated on eating her choco-cornet as she joined Miyuki's and Tsukasa's conversation -something about melting ice-.

But Kagami didn't seem to pay much attention to them; something was bothering her, and it had nothing to do with the dispute she'd just finished with Konata. There it was again, that empty feeling on the back of her head, saying that she must recall something. She found herself spacing out for a second, but the feeling of something touching her lips brought her back.

_Why am I doing this again? _this was the third time already that her fingers had reached her lips without her noticing. Slowly, she removed them away. Miyuki, who always seem to have an extra sight to perceive things -not that it had anything to do with been a glasses girl- noticed her friend deep in thought.

"Is everything alright, Kagami-san?" Miyuki asked very nicely as the other two turned to Kagami's direction.

"Huh? . . . umm, yeah, well . . . I've a funny feeling I'm supposed to remember something, but I can't really think of what it is."

"Oh, don't you just hate when that happens?" said Tsukasa. "That happened to me the other day, and the more I tried to remember, the more I forgot about it. It wasn't until hours later that I was reminded of what it was and I woke up in the middle of the night because of it."

"Yes, that has happened to me as well," followed up Miyuki. "There was one time I'd forgotten about picking up something from the bookstore, and it wasn't until two days later that I remembered about it during dinner."

"Oh yeah?" snickered Konata. "Well, while fighting my way through battle in search of a rare, never before seen item, I'd completely forgotten about finishing the homework. And it wasn't until this morning that I was reminded by Kagami that I was able to finish it . . . heh-heh."

There was a vain on Kagami's neck that kept getting bigger because of Konata's comment. The other two noticed, and decided it was best to keep away.

"First of all, Konata, it's not that you forget about doing homework, you just lack the motivation to do it. Secondly, I didn't remind you about it, you pretty much took mine out of my bag to copy it. And thirdly, didn't I tell you minutes ago to stop with your nonsense game talking?"

"At least I'm not the one speaking nonsense in my sleep," grinned Konata as she took a bite off her choco-cornet.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Like you don't remem- . . . " Konata felt a light bulb light up over her head. "Hey, maybe that's what you forgot about, Kagamin!"

"Forgot about what?" Kagami raised an eyebrow in complete confusion. The other two, also confused, glance at each other, as if wondering if the other knew what Konata was talking about.

"Yeah, that must be it!" continued Konata with a sort of excitement as she tapped her chin.

"_Must be _what? What are you talking about?" Kagami's confusion was turning into annoyance when Konata didn't answer back.

"About your cosplay fantasy, of course," replied Konata with that curled smile of hers.

"WHAT?" there was a slight shade of pink shown on Kagami's face.

"Yeah, you know," continued Konata turning to the other two. "She was talking about it the other day we came over to their house, right guys?"

"_**WHAT**_?" a now flustered Kagami kept repeating as she faced Miyuki and her sister, whom seem to have remembered.

"Oh- . . . that!" said Tsukasa under an embarrassed smile. "When Sis woke up, we didn't mentioned it because we thought the conversation would tire her more."

"Yes, that's true. But if you ask me, I don't think that that could be considered cosplaying, Konata-san."

"Huh?" Kagami watched as other three were debating an unknown matter for her.

"No, no, no, Miyuki. It had to be about cosplaying. Otherwise, how can you explain a maid's outfit?"

"Okay, someone better explain to me what _that _is all about! NOW!" Kagami's patience had reached its limit.

"Well, you see . . . " Miyuki gave a detailed report of the events that took place during the time Konata and she went to their house. At the end, Kagami seemed more calmed and went back to her usual self.

"None of that sleep talking sounds like a fantasy to me, especially a cosplay one. Why would I even be dreaming about cosplaying?"

"But don't you and Tsukasa usually cosplay as Mikos?" snickered Konata.

"Shut up, don't even go there!" Kagami threw a killing stare at Konata. "You sure enjoy to pissed me off with your weird comments."

"You go that right," agreed Konata, clearly enjoying herself. "I just love how Kagamin looks when she's all flustered."

"Wha-whatever . . . " Kagami on the other hand, was getting tire of arguing, and looked away hiding a blush. "You know, just listening to you wears me out," she sighed. Tsukasa got close to her and gave soft pats on Kagami's shoulder.

"Yuki-chan, what exactly is sleep talking?" asked Tsukasa as she kept patting Kagami. Holding her chin, Miyuki glanced upwards, recollecting information on the subject been questioned. Once all the data had been gathered, she held a finger to begin her lecture.

"Sleep talking, or _somniloquy_, is a type or parasomnia, which is an abnormal behavior that takes place during sleep. It is reported in 50% of young children, with most of them outgrowing it by puberty, although it may persist into adulthood. Sleep talkers normally speak for no more than 30 seconds per episode, but some people sleep talk many times during a night. It's a very common occurrence and is not usually considered a medical problem. It also appears that it runs in families."

"And what are the causes for sleep talking?" asked Kagami wanting to know more.

"Well, REM sleep behavior disorder, known as RBD, and sleep terrors are two types of sleep disorders that cause some people to shout during sleep. People with RBD yell, shout, grunt, and act out their dreams, often violently. Other things that can cause sleep talking include a mental health disorder, substance abuse, certain medications and emotional stress, but the most common cause would be due to a fever."

"You see?" pointed out Kagami as she turned to Konata. "In case you had forgotten, I was in bed because of a _fever!_"

"But wasn't your fever already down when we came over?"

"Yes, but even so, I woke up with a killer headache, and I even had trouble noticing Miyuki's presence because everything looked blurry to me."

"Oh yeah . . . wait!" Tsukasa cheerfully said.

"Yes, what is it, Tsukasa-san?" Miyuki asked politely.

"No, I mean . . . when Kona-chan left, Sis moved and said _wait_, remember?" she explained the happenings moments after Konata had left with a tone of excitement for remembering about it. Konata turned to Kagami, making the girl nervous as she noticed a well-known smile curled on her otaku friend.

"I bet Kagamin noticed I left her side, and was calling out for me," grinned Konata when she leaned close to Kagami.

"S-shut up! Who in the world would be calling for you?" stuttered Kagami as she tried to hide a shade of pink on her face.

-o-o-o-

That same evening, Kagami was found working on her room, just finishing the last couple of pages she had of homework. Once it was complete, she put her books away and grabbed one of her light novels to read. Tsukasa was taking a bath at the moment, so she decided to wait for her turn while doing a bit of light reading.

Yawning, she stood up and dragged her body towards the bed; for some reason, she just felt really exhausted and ended up collapsing face down, burying her face on the pillow. She rolled around and held out the book on the air to read.

Some fifteen minutes of reading went by when her arms began to waver, as an intense weight seems to have accumulated on them. They weren't the only ones, though. Her tired sight made every sentence she read to constantly fade away, her eyes felt extremely heavy and they began flickering as a sudden blurriness overtook them. In the end, her eyes ceased to stay open and her arms gave in to their weight, leaving the book -still open- over her face. Kagami must have been extremely exhausted, because she fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.

The deepness of her sleep was reflected through her heavy breathing, although with the book been on top of her face, it didn't made much noise. And so she slept. With the place been completely quiet, there was nothing that could have disturbed her slumber. Until, she began moving.

Her heavy breathing became more intense and it sounded awkward, as if she was gasping for air. Suddenly, she lifted herself abruptly, sending the book flying down to the side of the bed.

_No way! J-just now . . . t-that was . . . but how? When d-did I . . . _panting, she reached a trembling hand towards her lips, and slightly caressed them. There it was, that tingly and warm feeling on them. Almost immediately, she felt an immense, yet gentle, warmth embrace her heart. Noticing this strange feeling, a shade of crimson red spread through her face.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, but Kagami didn't respond to it. Instead, she saw the door slowly open and Tsukasa walking in with a towel around her shoulders, drying her still wet hair.

"The bath is ready for you to use, Sis," Tsukasa stopped drying her hair as she heard no response from her sister, and directed her attention towards her. She noticed her sister's awkward breathing and her face blushing in a deep red. She hurried to the bed and sat right next to her.

"Sis, a-are you alright? Are you coming down with another fever?" whimpered Tsukasa, but to these words, Kagami only shook her head.

"Is there something wrong? Do you want me to get . . . "

"N-no, no," intervened Kagami, as she noticed her sister panicking for not knowing what to do. "I'm okay, don't worry about it." It was an obvious lie; fortunately for her, Tsukasa didn't have Miyuki's extra sight to perceive things. Which was also kind of sad when she thought about it.

"Then . . . what's the matter, Sis?" Kagami didn't knew how to answer to that. But all she could say was:

"Well, I just happen to remember . . . something."

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**A/N:** So the first chapter ends with Kagami not been able to remember what she forgot; now this one ends with her finally remembering what it was. You'll find out what's all about next time.

I'd fun writing this chapter, since I happen to be a victim of my young sister's constant sleep talking -no matter how many pillows I throw at her, she won't stop her nonsense chatting. Keeps me awake most of the night- I thought it would be interesting to write about this subject in particular, so I hope you liked it.


	3. A Timid, Blue Fox

So yeah, like I said last time, I got the idea for this fanfiction after recalling a one-shot manga I read ages ago. I just hope that this idea that I have works out in the end.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Lucky Star_.

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**Chapter 3: A Timid, Blue Fox**

"So she left earlier because of unfinished work that needed to be done?" said Konata shocked after learning from Tsukasa of Kagami's reason for leaving home ahead of her. "I never imagined Kagami to be the kind of person who would leave incomplete school work at the last minute."

"Well, she didn't specifically say it was school work. Sis only told me that she needed to research about something she'd forgotten about. It must have been something important, because last night she sure looked a bit nervous when she remembered about it. She even skipped breakfast to get to the library before they opened," explained Tsukasa as the girls headed to the school gates.

"Well, I just hope everything turns alright for Kagami-san," said Miyuki a bit concerned.

Meanwhile, at the library, a very confused and flustered Kagami was found alone at the most isolated table in the library that she could find. There were a couple of books spread open on the table, along with several sheets of paper that she had printed from the computer moments ago.

_Well, this is most of the information I could find regarding this subject in particular, _thought Kagami as she held a couple of the printed sheets that already contained a few high-lighted lines, but she didn't read them; instead, she glanced at all the data she had gathered and was now dispersed on the table.

_What am I doing? I'm just getting more self-conscious about it. _She sighed dropping her head over her crossed arms as they rested on the table.

As she slumbered the weight on her arms, she began recalling the events from the previous night, but once she did, a shade of pink began to appear across her face. She shook her head, sits up, and grabs one of the books to read. Kagami was now determined to end the 'research' she had already started. Even though she still wasn't really sure why she'd started it in the first place.

She read from the book for a couple of minutes only to find a small sentence about what she was looking for.

"[Pertains to show of intention]" she read. "Okay, that doesn't explain much," she put the book aside and grabbed the other one.

_[Kissing another is often wish-fulfillment or sexually acting out] . . . S-sexually? _thought Kagami raising an eyebrow and blushing uncontrollably as she silently read from the book. _Umm, I think I'll ignore that line for now, _she kept on reading.

_[The wish-fulfillment may not be to kiss per se, but to experience the youthful energy of love. The desire for the awakening of passion, not necessary the passion acted out. To seek some intimate closeness that is lacking in some waking relationship] . . . huh? Wait, what does that mean? _

Unfortunately, Kagami's train of thought was brought to a halt, as the sound of the bell startle her.

Immediately, she put all her things away and headed to class. When she got there, she greeted some of her classmates as usual, and spoke a few words with Ayano and Misao moments before class started. Lessons proceeded as they normally did, and Kagami had left that train of thought from earlier on the back of her head in order to keep all her focus on class.

-o-o-o-

It wasn't until minutes before reaching lunch time that Kagami's thoughts found themselves drifting off without authorization. Her mind began playing tricks on her, as the sight of the board seemed to fade away. She flickered her eyes to bring herself back to class, but instead, her mind took her somewhere else; somewhere she had seen before . . . well, figurative speaking, that is.

Kagami wasn't really sure what kind of place it was, nor what exactly she could be doing there in the first place. All she knew was that she was lying down, immobile with eyes closed, perhaps asleep.

The atmosphere surrounding her was quiet and it felt warm. Then she could hear vague murmurs, so it meant she wasn't alone and she probably wasn't asleep after all, but she just couldn't make out who's voice that was, nor what they were saying; yet, it sounded so familiar.

_I think I hear my name,_ she thought. _Someone's calling me; I guess it's time to get up. I'm too tired, though . . . just five more minutes._ Then there was the feeling of a warm hand on her cheek. _I said a five minutes! _

Unexpectedly, she felt something wet drop on her cheek; Kagami realized she must have been outside.

_Great job, Kagami! Only an idiot would think of taking a nap outside the house when it's about to rain!_

Her eyelids slightly opened, very slowly -they felt sort of heavy- and she noticed it was kind of dark; was it because of the approaching rain that it looked dark, or was it really that late that the sun was already setting in the distance? Whichever it was, she didn't know.

Her sight turned dim, making her eyes blink to retrieve their focus, but instead they sighted the blurry silhouette of someone next to her. At first, she couldn't make out who it was, until the small figure got closer and Kagami was able to identify a cascade of blue hair and:

. . . _fox ears? Wait a sec, only a perverted midget would think of herself as a fox! _

Kagami blinked twice to clarify her vision; indeed, just as she had suspected, Konata was sitting next to her. She took a closer look.

_Wait . . . she really is a fox! I guess I really must be dreaming, then. But why am I dreaming about her? _

Then she sighted something she'd never seen before. There was something different about Konata -beside the fact of been a fox mononoke- she had her eyes closed and it seemed as if she'd been crying. She was actually closer than what Kagami thought, because she could see her face just inches above hers.

Konata kept her eyes closed all the time, and there was sadness reflected on her face; somehow, that expression made her look even smaller. Maybe because it was the first time ever that she saw a fragile and delicate Konata, that Kagami thought for a moment there that she looked kind of:

_. . . cute. I don't ever recall seeing a sensitive Konata before. She looks really, really adorable . . . but- _

Kagami didn't move, her eyes were captivated by the sight of what she thought to be Konata as a small, timid fox in front of her.

She felt her heart skip a beat, followed by a strange, warm sentiment building up inside of her, she had a sudden urge to hug Konata and ease her pain, her sadness. Her heartbeat accelerated in a strange way, making it pound even harder against her chest.

_It feels as if it were about to burst out. _

Without noticing, and without knowing why, her eyes had landed on Konata's lips, and she couldn't look away. They looked soft, and Kagami's face began warming up by an unexpected thought that popped into her head:

. . . _I wonder if they feel soft, too. _

And without any previous warning, she saw how Konata slowly cleared the distance between them.

_K-Konata? _

Kagami's mind suddenly went blank, and her eyes snapped open as the touch of Konata's lips made contact with hers. Dazed by Konata's action, Kagami felt her face burning up as she slowly closed her eyes. Her heartbeat had reached its limit to the point of making Kagami drift off back to sleep, submerged in a warm feeling that gently embraced her body.

-o-o-o-

"Hiiragi? Hey, Hiiragi!" Kagami was brought back to reality by Misao, who seem to have been calling out her name for quite a while. "What's up with you today? Didn't you hear the bell ring for lunch time already?"

"Umm . . . sorry, I was just- . . . thinking about something," Kagami had a light shade of pink on her cheeks.

"Is everything alright, Hiiragi-chan?" Ayano noted as she got closer to them holding her bento.

"Y-yeah, I just . . . forgot to tell Tsukasa that we're supposed to get some stuff on our way home," lied Kagami as she stood up and headed towards the door.

"I thought you said you were gonna have lunch with us today," Misao said with a tone of disappointment as she scratched the back of her head.

"I am . . . I'll just run down to her class and come back really quick," and with that, she head out.

Misao and Ayano just stared after her, but soon after went back to placing their seats together and taking out their lunch to eat.

"Hey, is it just me or was Hiiragi really blushing before she left?" Misao asked as she took a meatball from her lunch.

"I thought so, too," agreed Ayano.

"Mm-hmm," as Misao chewed down, a mischievous smile -revealing a pointed fang- appeared on her face. "I wonder if the midget did something to her again."

* * *

**A/N:** I wanted to make this an "about to be kissed" moments, which is the type where you dream about someone who's about to kiss you, and when that someone is only an inch away you wake up.

But ended up going for the "wish-fulfillment" dream instead because I figured it would confuse Kagami more and send her into flustered mode, which we all love.


	4. A Flustered, Mauve Rabbit

Sorry for the delay, I was kinda busy with this canvas I wanted to finish, and I have to admit it turned out pretty cool, not bad for my first time painting an animal. It turns out I was born in the year of the Tiger, and what do you know? It's the year of the Tiger again! To commemorate this year, I decided to do a painting of this magnificent feline, which by the way, it's my favorite animal.

Wait a sec, I'm getting off topic here ...sorry about that. I'm a bit of a klutz, so I get distracted pretty easily. Anyways, so here's chapter four, enjoy. R&R

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**Chapter 4: A Flustered, Mauve Rabbit**

Even though she rushed out of class, Kagami slowed her pace once she set foot on the hallway. Not knowing very well what to do, she headed to the girls' restroom -which to her fortune was completely empty- walked to the mirror and opened the water.

After letting it ran through her fingers for a few seconds, she scooped some water and splashed it on her face. With eyes closed and both hands gripping the sides of the sink, Kagami meditated for a moment as she noticed that the empty feeling on the back of her head had vanished after remembering those happenings.

_It was a dream,_ she thought. _Anyone has those, right? . . . Oh, that's right!_

She opened her eyes and stare at herself on the mirror. There was water still dripping down those cheeks that had a shade of pink just moments ago.

"I had a fever! So if the fever I'd made me talk in my sleep, that's reasonable enough to make me have weird dreams. Yes; I'm pretty sure that's what happened!" She dried herself up and got out feeling a bit more relaxed after figuring that out. "I'll just drop by to say hi to 'em and head back to class."

With a lighter step, she walked down the hall smiling. But the more she was getting close to Tsukasa's class, the less lightly her steps felt. They were actually getting heavier, making her pace to slow down.

Kagami finally made a complete stop just three classes before reaching Tsukasa's. She stared down the hall crowded by students, but all she could see were images of that dream flashing through her mind.

Trying to ignore them, she began walking again; yet, the more she tried to get rid of them, the more constant they appeared. It was true that that dream had finally filled a troubled, empty gap she'd on the back of the head a while back, but now it was that same dream that made her feel uneasy.

_But it was a dream_._ Just a dream, just some . . . wicked illusion caused by the fever I had. There's no reason for me to worry about something like that . . . and yet . . . why is it bothering me? Why can't I stop thinking about it? _

She finally reached Tsukasa's class, but did not enter right away; instead, she kept staring at the door, still debating her questions. There were all sorts of things popping in her head, until one question in particular made all her thinking process suddenly stop.

"No way! There's just no freaking way that's possible!" Kagami shook away that question under a deep crimson red on her cheeks and a small drop of sweat. Feeling sort of nervous -for unknown reasons- she took a deep breath, waited a moment for her cheeks to lose their sudden heat, and opened the door.

"I know, and it got pretty stinky, too," Tsukasa said in an amusing tone.

"Yes; you're right, it did," agreed Miyuki. "Oh, hello there, Kagami-san."

Kagami walked towards the group -who had already gathered to eat- smiling and waving at Miyuki.

"Hey guys. I just dropped by to say hi, since I didn't see you this morning," Kagami stood next to where Miyuki and Tsukasa were sitting, but she immediately regret it because now Konata was the one sitting in front of her.

"Yeah, we heard from Tsukasa," said Konata with her usual sleepy eyes, but opened them widely as she was reminded of something. "Hey, is it true you didn't do your homework?"

"I didn't say that, Kona-chan," a flustered Tsukasa said. "I just mentioned that she wanted to get here before they opened the library."

"You didn't have to broadcast it to everyone, Tsukasa," declared Kagami, to which Tsukasa let out a quiet 'Sorry, Sis' as she scratched her cheek with a shy smile.

"Was there something in particular that you needed to do, Kagami-san?" Miyuki asked with her serene smile.

"Hmm, sort of . . ." Kagami thought for a moment. Obviously, she couldn't talk about it; besides, she had decided that what happened didn't really mean anything. That the awkwardness of that dream was just making her confused and that there was no real meaning behind it.

"Although, come to think of it I'm kind of regretting wasting that time at the library."

"Why? What kind of research were you doing, Kagamin?" asked Konata as she ate from her lunch.

"What makes you think I'll tell you?"

"Cause we are friends?" Konata was making her puppy-dog eyes.

"Unfortunately" groaned Kagami narrowing her eyes to the blue haired.

"That's mean, Kagami," said Konata as she faked a sad expression, to which only Tsukasa believed and patted her short friend on the shoulder. "Oh, come to think of it," continued Konata dropping her act and now staring at Tsukasa with a pensive look.

"What is it, Kona-chan?" the poor girl asked now feeling a bit intimidated by the strange way Konata looked at her. After finishing with her observations, Konata's usual smile made an appearance.

"Well, since Kagami left home without you . . . I'm impressed you managed to come to school in one piece, Tsukasa," pointed out Konata.

"Eeeh?" startle by the comment, Tsukasa stared at Konata shocked at what she heard. "Damn you, Kona-chan!"

"Konata, leave her alone," demanded Kagami with a severe tone, as she watched an embarrassed look on her younger sister and her torturer laughing like an idiot.

_Yeah, there's no doubt about it. That's definitely not possible! _thought Kagami while staring at Konata as she recalled the question that she had shaken away before coming in.

"Anyways, I'm going back to class now. I'll see you after school."

"Yes; thank you for stopping by, Kagami-san," a politely Miyuki said.

Kagami waved goodbye to the girls and headed towards the door, holding the side of her stomach as she felt emptiness inside.

_Maybe it's true what they say about not been able to think straight with an empty stomach_.

"Kagamin, wait!" a pair of small hands wrapped themselves around Kagami's free arm and pulled her towards their owner.

At the very moment she felt Konata's warmth, it felt as if that same warmth spread from her arm through her entire body. Kagami also noticed her legs felt kind of stiff and couldn't move them very well for a minute there, but what made her mind freeze up was an awkward sensation of something pulling her heart at the moment she turned to look at Konata.

"I forgot to tell you that we made plans to hang out today after school. You're coming with us, right?"

_What is this . . . feeling? _Kagami tried to open her mouth to say something, but a mute button was pressed and nothing came out. Konata on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to this so she kept talking.

"Besides, even though Tsukasa made it to school safe and sound today, it doesn't mean that she she'll be next time you leave her alone. After all, as the older sister, it's your duty to- . . . " normally Kagami would had gotten annoyed whenever Konata gave one of her weird lectures, but this time it gave her a bit of time to regain control over her voice and finally spoke out.

"Okay, fine! I get it," she felt her cheeks warming up and turned to the other way to hide them. "J-just let go of my arm already . . . it's embarrassing."

"Aww, but Kagamin looks so cute when she's all embarrassed and stuff," Konata sure was enjoying herself as she spoke with a childish excitement. "You're a cute, flustered bunny, and I just love teasing the bunny . . . cause I'm the playful fox, right?"

At the sound of those last words, the image of the fox-like Konata kissing Kagami flashed through her mind. Her heart got tighter; something was squeezing it with a great, yet gentle force.

Not having experienced anything like this before, Kagami freaked out and yanked her arm away from Konata's grip, whom was a bit surprise by Kagami's reaction; she then noticed a strange, pale expression on her tall friend.

"Are you okay, Kagami? Do you feel sick, or something?" the tone on Konata's voice was now more concerned.

"No! I-I'm okay- . . . I have to get back to class now," Kagami turned and began walking, but was stopped once again by Konata when she grabbed her hand.

"Are you sure?"

Slowly, Kagami pulled her hand back, and tried to act as if everything was alright. As much as she could, she managed to look at Konata and smile.

"Yes; I'm sure . . . I'll see you after school, then," and she walked out, leaving her friend behind in a state of confusion.

Walking down the hall was not an easy task now. Kagami had to hold herself on the walls as she walked, noticing how her legs quivered now and then. Her face was warming up, and she felt her heart racing and pounding really hard so she stopped for a moment by the windows to think about what happened.

She brought the hand -now shaking- that had been held by Konata to her chest and felt how her heart kept pounding rapidly and harder against it.

"It hurts," whispered Kagami as she felt a tighter squeeze in her heart.

"It really hurts, but . . ." she couldn't help but notice that the tighten, painful feeling in her chest was followed by a warmth she never felt before. It was such a strange feeling, as if that same warmth gently eased the pain in her heart. She couldn't really describe what was happening to her.

_It's painful, but also kinda pleasant and . . . endearing? _she thought.

Turning towards the window, she gazed at nothing in particular for a moment. There was only one thing that kept coming back to her, a question she cleared off the moment it popped in her mind, but now she couldn't get rid of it.

Taking one last glance outside the window, she sighed and close her eyes and thought about that particular question.

_What if I have feelings for her?_

* * *

**A/N:** Alright, here's my theory, there's only one thing that best describes love: _bitter-sweet_. Why? Because there's just no better way to describe it. Seriously! I can't really go into details, but yeah ...that's love for you. Come to think of it, I wrote my best poetry when I was going through the bitterness of love, which is when you get hurt and stuff. I wonder what I can come up with once I get a taste of the sweeter part ...

I'm getting off topic again, sheesh ...

Back to the story: well, to make it short, Kagami is just experiencing the first symptoms of this _bitter-sweet_ love ...pain. Yes; warm, gentle pain.

BTW: I wasn't really sure what to put for the title; _would it be a 'Lilac Rabbit' of a 'Lavender Rabbit'? _I wondered. I dunno, I thought they sounded weird, so I went for _mauve_, which is a pale lavender-lilac color. I hope it makes sense, thought.


	5. An Odd Request

Thanks to everyone who has been reading this fanfiction and I apologize for making you wait. I have to admit, I had no idea of what to write for this chapter, but next thing I know, it turned out to be the one with the most ideas. Let's just hope that it's of your liking.

And thank you so much for your reviews. Even though I might keep getting a writer's block, they're always the extra push I need to keep on writing ^_^

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**Chapter 5: An Odd Request**

When Konata said they'd made plans to hang out after school, she ended up taking them out to eat. The occasion, "Kagami skipped breakfast," she said.

_Think about Konata to say something stupid like that. What makes her think that I'll go to whatever place she wants when there's food involved? _thought Kagami as she groaned to herself, realizing how easy one of her weakness could be used for manipulation and who worse than Konata to know of her weakness.

Still, she thought Konata's invitation was oddly nice of her, but that only made things a bit harder for Kagami, just finding more reasons to keep thinking about her.

Most of the time, Kagami stayed away from Konata and spoke only when she thought it was necessary until they arrived to a small family restaurant.

_At least the weird tighten sensation in my chest is gone now. But I still feel a bit uneasy, _she kept thinking.

When they got inside, the group took a seat on one of the booth by the window; Konata and Miyuki sat on one side, Tsukasa and Kagami on the other, but once she noticed how exactly they were seated, Kagami took the place opposite Miyuki, which was by the window.

_What am I doing here? _she thought glancing at the rest of the group that kept talking about who knows what._ I shouldn't have agreed to come; now I won't be able to think clearly. _

Figuring out the meaning of a dream was one thing, but to figure out the meaning of certain feelings is a completely different matter, and Kagami was well aware of it as she quietly looked through the window, staring at the people passing by.

"Oh, this was very thoughtful of you, Izumi-san," Miyuki, along with Tsukasa kept complementing Konata for the sudden invitation.

"Yeah, Kona-chan; it's so nice of you. Don't you think so, Sis?" she turned to her older twin, whom kept staring outside the window, trying to avoid any eye contact with the short fellow. Actually, just been around her felt kind of uncomfortable for Kagami at the moment.

_Is it me, or there's not enough air to breathe in here? _it's all she could think of.

"Kagami-san?" it took her a couple of seconds to notice Miyuki calling her name, even though she was sitting right in front of her.

"Huh? . . . I'm sorry, what was that?" the other girls kept quiet, as if they all were thinking the same thing.

"Are you not feeling okay, Sis? You didn't talked much on our way here," Tsukasa, along with Miyuki, looked at Kagami with concerned eyes. As for Konata, the way she stared at Kagami didn't say if she was concerned, too, or perhaps just thinking of something else to tease Kagami, like she always did.

"Yeah, you looked kinda weird after you left class during lunch," Konata's comment didn't help much.

_Geez, thanks for reminding me about 'that', I'd totally forgotten about it! _at least Kagami's sarcasm was back.

"Did you got dumped or something?" and so was Konata's teasing. "Or maybe you gained weight again, that would explain your reasons for skipping breakfast, but then again- . . ."

"Shut up! What makes you think I'm feeling like this because of- . . . " realizing she had talked without thinking, Kagami covered her mouth with a hand to prevent any other word from coming out. A sudden blush on her cheeks, and a drop of sweat made her even more nervous.

_Crap! What am I saying? Now they'll know there's something wrong with me._

"Ah-ha! So there is something wrong with you," Konata eagerly spoke as she enjoyed watching the embarrassment on Kagami's face.

_DAMMIT, KONATA! Stop talking to me already!_ she finally thought before slamming her head on the table.

"I'll take that as a yes. I wonder what it could be, must be something interesting," Konata stared upwards, tapping her chin with a wicked grin. Both Tsukasa and Miyuki stared from Konata to Kagami without knowing what to do or what to say.

No one spoke for a whole minute, which was kind of weird because normally Kagami would had replied right away to Konata's teasing, but this time all she could manage to let out from where she was hiding was:

"If you must know . . . I'm feeling really tire." That was no lie. She did felt tired from all that happened to her that day. Tsukasa got closer and began rubbing Kagami's back, which actually felt pretty good since her body felt some what tense at the moment.

"If I may say," announced Miyuki after clearing her throat. "Could it be that Kagami-san feels tired because her body is still recuperating? I mean, she did spend more than two days in bed because of a fever."

"Oh, that might be true. You did look really tired last night, too, Sis," there was another moment of silence, which Kagami used very well to clear her mind.

_Hey, I can use this_, she thought. _I know it's not the real reason, but I can't let them know what's happening to me . . . What am I saying? I don't even know myself!_

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kagami lift herself back and sighed. "Now that I think about it, I did felt really exhausted after finishing the homework that I fell asleep right away while waiting for Tsukasa to get out of the bath."

"Or you body's weak because your idea of skipping a meal as part of a diet, didn't worked at all," remarked Konata with her curled smile.

"Shut up, Konata," Kagami was feeling less tense, and it seemed as if her uneasiness was fading away.

"Oh, the Tsundere mode is back!" grinned Konata with excitement.

"Knock it off!" yep, her usual self was back. It sure was amazing how much effort Konata put into learning all of Kagami's wrong buttons to press for pure enjoyment; why Konata never used those quick to learn skills in school was a complete mystery.

And as strange as it was, Kagami smiled. _Hey, I'm talking to her like before_, she thought.

Sure, she was nervous moments ago, but to notice that she was able to talk normally made her happy. At least that's what she thought as she watched Konata laughing; soon the other two joined them with embarrassed giggles.

Although, one would normally think that arguing with someone else so often would be a bit strange, for Kagami, _that _was normal.

After a few minutes of unexpected laughter among them, they ordered their meals and soon enough embarked into some random conversation as they awaited for the food.

For the time been, Kagami felt her normal self again, with the exception of a warm, fussy feeling in her chest. It actually felt quite pleasant and comfortable, so she didn't bothered to think about it.

-o-o-o-

"That was great; we definitely have to come here again," a well-pleased Konata said rubbing the sides of her already full stomach as they were getting out of the restaurant a couple of hours later.

"Well, if it is to repay for your invitation, then I'll gladly come," said Miyuki as she readjust her glasses.

"Oh yes, we must repay you somehow!" Tsukasa playfully agreed.

"I guess that would be fare. Unless you want something else," Kagami still found this odd and realized there had to be a catch as she snapped her eyes open and glanced at Konata. "Wait a minute; you do want something else, don't you?"

"E-eh? W-what makes you think that?" Konata scratched her cheek under a cold sweat and took her eyes away from Kagami's -which were already eating her with rage- there was something definitely going on.

"Don't you play dumb with me, I know you're scheming something like always!" Kagami took a step closer to Konata, already clinching her hand.

"S-Sis?" Tsukasa, along with Miyuki, sensed trouble and opted to back away a little.

"C'mon, Kagami, do you really think I could do something like that?" no matter how she tried to lie, her face told another story. This only made Kagami to get closer with her fist staring to shake.

"W-wait, wait- . . . hey, l-look over there!" Konata pointed behind Kagami trying to distract her, but with no success.

"KONATA!" Kagami was just a step away from Konata, with her first on the air ready to strike any second.

"Kagami-san, please don't take any drastic actions that you might regret later," Miyuki also didn't know what to do but to stay away with Tsukasa whimpering behind her.

"O-okay, okay, I'll tell you- . . . just, spare my life, Kagami-sama!" Konata pleaded holding both her hands together in front of her head and eyes closed tightly.

"Stop calling me that!" to Konata's luck, Kagami only waved her fist in front of her, but still made the short blue-haired one jump back a little.

As she noticed Konata's fearful expression, Kagami couldn't help but noticed her face, it was almost the same as the one in the dream. This made her heart to skip a beat, and for a second there Kagami thought she couldn't inhale any oxygen and turned to the side -noticing that Konata still had her eyes covered- to gasp a couple of times.

_What the heck was that? _she thought holding her chest and noticing an awkward, yet familiar pounding.

_It's happening again! Why is this happening again? _suddenly, she felt that same pulling in her heart followed by a tighten grip on it.

_A-ah . . . it's hurting._

"Huh?- . . . you didn't hit me?" a somewhat relieved Konata said as she lowered her hands and opened her eyes very slowly as if still expecting to get hit, but once she noticed no harm was done, her face light up and she looked at Kagami with her usual smile.

"Oh, thank you, Kagami-sa- . . . hey, are you okay?" she noticed Kagami looking away and looking rather socked somehow.

_Okay, Kagami . . . let's just wrap this up and go home. Get a hold of yourself! _sighing, she turned around rubbing the back of her head, trying by all means to look normal.

"I'm just worn out. Would you please just say whatever it is that you want?" Kagami sure sounded tired.

"Yeah, umm . . . I was just wondering if you guys wanted to come over to my place and have a study session this Saturday . . . and maybe have a sleep over, too?" asked Konata trying to sound reasonable.

"You mean for next week's exams? . . . what's the _real _reason?" Kagami somehow didn't bought it and found this a bit strange coming from Konata.

"No, really; I need help studying if I want to get a perfect score on some of the exams," grinned Konata.

"Oh, that's a great idea, Kona-chan," Tsukasa said finally coming out of her hide out with a timid smile.

"A perfect score?" Kagami wondered raising an eyebrow and eyeing the blue-haired suspiciously. "I still don't buy it."

"But if you think about it, Kagami-san, it will still be beneficial for all of us, don't you think so?" Miyuki politely stated. Konata had managed, yet again, to convince Miyuki and Tsukasa to agree with her on this one.

"Please, Kagami. I'll even cook for you and everything," said Konata with pleading eyes.

_Back to that again? What am I? A hungry puppy? _Kagami, well she still had her doubts, but just staring at the trio -who awaited for her answer- kept making her more frustrated. Not to mention the fact that there still was that strange feeling making her go insane for not knowing what it meant.

"Fine, we'll go to your house and have a study session this Saturday," sighed Kagami.

"Yay, Kagamin!" Konata broke into a cheer and tackled Kagami, wrapping her in a rather peculiar, warm hug, and burying her face just below Kagami's chest.

Tsukasa and Miyuki were already accustomed to this routine of Konata's, so they turned to the side and began discussing studying tips that could be useful.

Kagami on the other hand, just had no idea what was happening. Glancing at Konata -whom kept her face buried- she felt that familiar warmth spread through her body. But what confused her most was the stinging sensation in her heart followed by a different kind of warmth.

At that moment, she felt like crying, but somehow she managed to hold her tears back.

_It's really hurting_.

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**A/N: **And there it is, I really hope it turned out okay. Please review afterwards.


	6. A Tsundere's Acceptance, An Otaku's Ques

I deeply apologize for the delay.

It's been a weird month for me; I got really sick (and when I was getting better, went out and ended up getting worst), had to assist my dog when she'd her puppies (why am I always involved in bloody messes?), got into a rather stupid incident that left me all bruised up and almost had my nose broken (nothing out of the ordinary) but that's not what you're here for, anyways.

So, without any more obstacles, here's chapter 6. I hope you enjoy it. R & R

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**Chapter 6: A Tsundere's Acceptance, An Otaku's Quest**

Saturday morning. The still absences of sunlight outside made Kagami's room look even more obscure. Yet, she lay on bed already awake, staring into the emptiness of the ceiling. She glanced towards the night stand to check the time; no wonder the place was so dark, the digits read [5:23am].

It wasn't the first time she'd waken up around this time, actually; ever since Kagami was able to recall that dream, she began having trouble sleeping. Most of the following nights, she found herself tossing and turning on her bed, unable to gain any slumber as the disturbing image of Konata kept popping in her mind whenever she closed her eyes.

Kagami wasn't really sure of when exactly she would end up falling asleep, but she figured that it wasn't for long enough, because she would always wake up all of a sudden into the stillness of her dark room just to notice that it was too early from her usual hour.

Realizing she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, she straighten herself up and sat by the edge of the bed. Glancing towards the window, she noticed that the street-lights were still on because of the distant, dim illumination.

But then her mind went elsewhere, reminiscing certain things from the past few days that she became full aware of. Mostly regarding a short, blue-haired otaku. They all seemed to lead her to one conclusion, but she would just shake it away whenever it appeared.

_Well, even if it really is that, why does it has to be her? . . . although . . ._

Sighing, she scratched the back of her head, toying with her hair for a while before turning her gaze towards her desk, or at least on the direction of where it was, since she only noticed its obscured outlines.

She stood up and walked to the desk, sat on the chair, and because of the still absences of light, turned the lamp on. Without having much to do at such an early hour, she reached out randomly for one of her light novels to read, not caring much for the title.

Kagami opened the light novel somewhere in between and began reading; well, not really. For the next ten minutes or so, her sight was plastered on the text, but she wasn't really reading it.

To put it more accurately, her eyes were only scanning through the lines, stopping now and then on certain words that caught her attention, such as: _dreams, friend, timid, cuteness, warmth, desires, kiss . . . love. _Somehow, they lead to the same message when Kagami connected them together.

Blushing at the revealed message that appeared on her mind she slapped her eyes shut, closed the book and put it away. Kagami then held her face covered between both hands; taking constant deep breaths and waiting for her cheeks to cool down, she tried to think of something else. Nothing but the short fellow seemed to come to mind.

"Fine, I give up! If I can't get that little pervert out of my head right now, mind as well just try and figure out what's the deal with her," she uncovered her face, looked in the drawer for some paper and reached out for a pencil. Kagami had decided to write down whatever feeling had awakening in her for the past few days as a result of that dream.

For starters, she began feeling kind of awkward around her. Well, she always felt uncomfortable around Konata because of her weird nature of finding all sorts of ways to embarrass Kagami for pure enjoyment.

But now there was something else, something different. A mixture of emotions that at first never seemed to made up their mind of what they meant or of their reasons of awakening.

Whenever Konata was around, Kagami felt a warm, gentle breeze building up in her chest, and no matter how much she tried to deny its pleasantness, it was quite an endearing feeling.

There were also a few times in which Kagami found it sort of hard to speak to Konata, especially when she was closer to her. She made her nervous, to a whole different level; more than ever she felt herself blushing uncontrollably, and a few times her words would come out with a stutter.

Fortunately for her, the others didn't seem to pay much attention to this as they probably thought Kagami had developed this kind of reactions do to Konata's constant teasing and they became accustomed to it; which, of course, Konata usually took full advantage of.

It was rather strange for Kagami to think of Konata differently, though; she even tried to find any positive qualities about her.

_Well, I have to admit that it's quite impressive how much effort she puts into getting what she wants, _but then she frowned after remembering the sort of things that Konata liked.

_Okay, maybe what she likes or the things that she's passionate about are not something a normal person would be proud of, but then again, Konata is not a normal girl. Highly obsessed with her weird otaku life; lack of any sort of responsibility regarding school . . . annoying, clingy . . ._

There were times in which, without realizing it at first, she found herself paying more attention at Konata. Like whenever she ate something of her liking, she made these funny, little gestures that Kagami actually thought to be very amusing. Just remembering about it made her chuckle.

And for some reason, on the countless times that the short blue-haired would cling to her, she perceived a sweet scent of chocolate coming from Konata. Kagami figured it was because of the amounts of choco-cornet that she ate, maybe.

Something else that captured her attention the most were Konata's eyes. It was actually kind of hard for Kagami to put it into words what those emerald orbs meant to her; she just found them rather captivating, as if they enchanted a charm on her to gaze at them.

_When she looks at me,_ she kept thinking_. There's something in those eyes that makes my heart skip, and it accelerates all of a sudden. It makes me wanna . . . _

A dark shade of pink reappeared across her cheeks as she imagined herself getting closer and closer to Konata, embracing her in a gentle, warm hug.

Frustrated and somewhat annoyed for having her mind drift off in that direction, she scrambled the piece of paper containing scribbles regarding the short bluenette and tossed it in the bucket, but missed the spot and only managed to make it bounce to the back of the desk.

Feeling even more aggravated, she went under the desk looking for the scrambled paper. Once located, she noticed a pair of pointed 'things' right next to it and grabbed hold of them as well. They were a pair of cat-ears.

"Huh? I thought I had these under my bed," without taking her eyes away from them, she sat back on the chair. "So, where exactly did I got these things from again?"

Scratching the side of her head, Kagami tried to recall where she got the cat-ears from, but nothing came to mind. Instead, she just looked at the item in her hands with great interest, staring at them from different angles.

"If I look at them like this, they seem a bit bigger; kinda like- . . . " her sentence was cut short when the blurry silhouette of someone with fox ears reappeared in her mind, making her face turn a crimson red once again.

_Maybe I really do . . ._

Putting the cat-ears aside, she crossed her arms on the desk, lowered her head over them, and slightly closed her eyelids sighing.

It wasn't like Kagami didn't knew now what was happening to her. Okay, perhaps it's true that she was totally clueless the first time she started having these feelings, but that was because she'd never actually experienced them before, so pretty much Kagami freaked out at that time. But things were different now, because _now _she knew what those feelings meant.

_Guess there's no point trying to deny it anymore._

Kagami turned her head -still resting over her arms- to the side and glanced at the cat-ears that laid right under the lamp's rain of light, and with a serene smile, she thought:

_I think I like Konata . . . more than a friend._

To her surprise, just admitting that somehow made her feel kinda . . . relieved. As if recognizing, and accepting these sentiments made an immense weight lift off her shoulders. That brought a smile to her lips without Kagami noticing it.

"So . . . what do I do now?"

-o-o-o-

Hours later, Kagami -along with Tsukasa- met up with Miyuki outside the train station, and she wasn't alone. Minami had tagged along because she was going to pick up Yutaka.

Apparently, they were going to have a study session of their own at Minami's house with Patricia and Hiyori. But because she didn't wanted for Yutaka to travel by herself, Minami decided that it would be best to pick her up. Whether making two trips was actually for the best or not, she didn't really mind as long as it meant to protect her precious little friend.

And so the group began their walk towards Konata's place, merging into random conversations to make the trip feel shorter.

As for Kagami, well, since she wasn't really sure of what to do -now that she'd realized her feelings for Konata- she decided to bottle them up until she'd figured out what step to take next.

Either way, she was in a really good mood and felt relaxed to return to her usual self -with the exception of having now and then a warm, fuzzy feeling that tickled her with excitement at the thought of seeing Konata- but of course, there was no way she would be sharing any of these with the others; so for now, it was kept away as she tried by all means to act natural.

When they arrived at the Izumi residence, they were welcomed in by the sight of Yutaka in a pretty canary-yellow dress that, well to put it bluntly, made her look damn adorable. Minami noted this and tried to hide away what she thought to be a blush as she felt her cheeks warming up. Kagami, who was right next to her, noticed it, though.

_Oh, now I see, _for some reason, Kagami had the slightest idea that she wasn't the only one that had a 'thing' for one of the girls at the Izumi household. However, having that sudden thought also brought a blush to her face, followed by her hand smacking it to cover it up.

"Hi, guys, please come in and make yourself at home," Yutaka smiled at one by one as they entered and returned the greeting; her smile, however, brighten once she sighted a green-haired someone on the back, and almost immediately skipped happily towards her tall friend.

"Ah, Minami-chan, you really came to pick me up. Sorry for making you go through all that trouble."

"N-no, no. It's not a problem, really. I was the one that asked to do it in the first place," this made little Yutaka smile even brighter with a shade of pink glowing on her cheeks.

_What? The feeling's mutual? _because the other two were distracted with something else, Kagami was the only one that read -somewhat shocked- the atmosphere around the young couple. _How long has this been going on? And why the heck am I barley noticing?_

"I'm gonna go ahead and get my stuff then," said Yutaka before walking to the stairs.

Feeling a bit dizzy after such discovery, Kagami turned to the side, massaging the sides of her head to clear her mind. Until she felt a sudden chill ran down her spine, indicating Konata's presence, making her forget about everything. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and saw her talking with Yutaka on the stairs.

_Just why did I end up liking someone like you? _her heart gave a big thump and began spreading a warm feeling through her chest.

"How do you do, Konata-san? Thank you for inviting us over," the always polite Miyuki said.

"Well, thank _you _for coming over, Yuki-chan," Konata smiled at her before turning her eyes on the younger twin, curling her smile into a mischief grin. "And a hello to you, Tsukasa. Hey, did you give Kagami any trouble for waking you up today?"

"Huh?" Tsukasa was taken aback, and started tapping her index fingers together under several sweat-drops. "J-just a little."

"Just a little? If I hadn't mentioned the bucket of cold water, you wouldn't have gotten out of the bed!" just remembering it annoyed Kagami.

Konata just laughed it off before turning to Kagami, leaving behind a very embarrassed Tsukasa.

"And a huge good morning to you, Kagami-sama!"

"Konata, it's past one in the afternoon. And stop calling me that!" but to Kagami's annoyance, Konata just waved her away and redirected her attention at Minami.

"Hi there, Minami-chan. Thanks for coming over to pick up Yu-chan," then she leaned closer to Minami's ear and whispered:

"Just between you and me, she spent quite some time choosing that cute little outfit she's wearing. So if I were you, I would definitely complement her," she finished that last part with a wink.

"O-oh . . . of course, I will," the others couldn't really hear what they were talking about, but by the look on Minami's face, it might had been something embarrassing.

They turned around as they heard Yutaka coming down the stairs, but she stopped by Miyuki and Tsukasa.

"Since we'll be having a sleep over at Minami-chan's place, too, you're welcome to use my bedroom for tonight."

"Really, Yu-chan?"

"That's very nice of you, Yutaka-san. Thank you."

As they exchanged a few more words, Konata noticed how Minami kept staring at Yutaka with admiring eyes, and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Cute, huh?"

" . . . beautiful."

"The outfit?"

"Y-yeah . . . that, too," realizing she'd been staring -and saying- too much, Minami decided to wait outside, and get some fresh air to cool off.

Once both Yutaka and Minami had said their respective good-byes to the others, they slowly began their walk down the street. Nevertheless, a very anxious Konata kept staring at them as they walked away; her eyes were particularly scanning at their faces.

_C'mon, say it already, _Konata kept thinking since she could only notice a light shade of pink shining on their cheeks as they talked. But then their cheeks deepened into a crimson red all of a sudden.

_Score! Nice job, Minami-chan_, something told Konata that that was the cue indicating that Minami had complemented Yutaka like she told her to. With that scene almost taken out of one of Hiyori's doujin, Konata -still smiling like an idiot- went back to the others.

-o-o-o-

"So, now that there are no kids around . . . let's talk about SEX!" exclaimed Konata, raising her hands in the air and draining off the color from the others' faces, which just stared at her with a great deal of perturbance and embarrassment at the sound of that last word. They were all in Konata's room, and had been studying for quite a while now.

"Wh-wha- . . .?"

"Oh, my . . . "

"What is wrong with you? Don't scream something like that out of the blue, you little pervert!"

The cause for such commotion was rolling around on the floor, drowning the atmosphere with hysterical laughter as she held the sides of her stomach. But the noise was cut off by a yelp coming from Konata after getting her head smacked by a very irritated Kagami.

_I must be insane! Of all people, how did I end up liking this idiot? _shaking her hand after the impact with the short girl's head, Kagami retrieve to her place with a slightly visible blush.

"Ow-ow-ow . . . I was just trying to lighten up the mood. We've been studying for hours," rubbing the area that had been hit, and wiping off a few tears -either from laughing earlier or because of the pain she was feeling now- Konata settled back on her spot.

She was right. For the last few hours, they had been studying nonstop; expanding their brains as much as possible, determined to store the material they'd been acquired to learn. Being third year students, they had to make that extra effort when it came to studying. So this scene was practically normal for them.

No wait, scratch that last part. It was _not _normal. Konata was actually studying! . . . Or trying to, sort of. Most of the time she wore a very determine -yet, confused- expression as she examined the information right in front of her.

"I still can't believe you're actually still awake, though. Or that you haven't done any funny business to stop us from studying," Kagami, along with the other two were still quite amazed to see that Konata'd brought her textbooks from school, and that all her notes were out. Although, most of them seemed like hieroglyphics and no one -not even Konata- knew what they said.

Because of such an odd behavior coming from the small girl, Kagami spent most of the time throwing discrete glances at her. Well, that had been one of the reasons for gazing at Konata, however, the other reasons were pretty much not been able to resist to the new amusing expressions that the blue-haired would make whenever she got stuck on a problem.

"I told you already, Kagami. I wanna get a few perfect scores," an always nonchalant Konata replied.

"Yeah, about that . . . there has to be something behind it, otherwise you wouldn't be hitting the books. What is it gonna be this time? Some sort of once in a life time limited edition box-set, or what?" and an always annoyed Kagami asked.

"A minivan."

There was a pause as the small girl's answer slowly processed through the others' mind. Since the other two still wore a blank expression, Kagami somehow managed to speak first.

"A . . . minivan?"

"Yup."

"As in . . . a four-wheeled vehicle?"

"Yes, Kagamin. As in a four-wheeled vehicle," Konata sure was enjoying the reactions from the others, so she casually kept talking.

"You see, Dad's gonna get me car for when we graduate, right? So the other day we made this deal -not really sure how that started, though- but the thing is that, if I manage to collect five perfect scores on whatever exams that we'll be taking from here until the end of school year, I get to choose the model. And because this is gonna be my most challenging quest ever . . . I want a minivan."

The rustle sound of the wind from outside became quite audible as no one spoke a word for the next two minutes.

* * *

**A/N:** That was long . . . I mean the chapter, but the wait, too.

It's kinda hard to write down your ideas in order when you constantly have the door to your room opening and closing by some rather annoying people -little sister, nephew, older brother, Mom and Dad- practically everyone in the house.

I'm thinking of hanging a sign that reads something like; "WARNING: Door is wired to a high-voltage plant" or "KEEP DOOR SHUT: Ever heard of knocking?" . . . I don't know . . . maybe I should just lock the door.


	7. What's the Difference?

So sorry for such long wait. I seriously think I should lock the door to my room. But then I don't wanna get questioned about what I'm doing that leads to having the door locked.

No incidents to report this time . . . except maybe when I chopped off -twice- almost half my finger nail while cooking. Or when I got my entire arm stuck in the TV -seriously now, how did I end up stuck like that?- I was just trying to fix the screen from the inside, so I kinda opened it and got my arm inside to reach the little thingy that needed fixing; next thing I know I couldn't pull back.

But anyways, here's chapter 7 and once again, sorry for the delay. I hope it's of your liking, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7: What's the Difference?**

Okay, sure enough that was an unexpected answer coming from Konata; maybe weird like usual, but unexpected. So even though no one spoke under those agonizing two minutes of silence, the other three girls were thinking -in their own way- about the same thing.

The blue-haired's height.

Kagami was sort of panicking at the moment, with a few sweat-drops here and there, along with a tint of pink on her cheeks. It might had been because of the current state of mind in which Kagami was in, but she was definitely going a bit -if not totally- over board with her ideas.

_Konata driving a minivan? . . . Konata driving a minivan? . . . oh, no! This is not good! . . . she could . . . she could get arrested! . . . she'll get pulled over by the cops, and they'll take her away thinking she's a grade scholar who took her Dad's van as an attempt to drive herself to the nearest playground! . . . wait, can they arrest grade scholars? . . . she might get sent to those juvenile jails . . . oh God, what am I thinking?_

Miyuki was more calmed -as usual- but she did look a bit surprised.

_Oh dear, I hope I'm not been rude to think this but . . . I wonder if Konata-san's legs are long enough to reach? . . . ah, but then there are those vehicles that can be adjusted to meet the driver's commodities; so I guess her height won't be a problem there . . . _and even in her own thoughts, she always seemed to find answers to whatever dilemma came to mind.

Tsukasa, on the other hand, more than thinking she was imagining how Konata would look driving. What came to mind was a rather smaller Konata climbing into an exaggerated bigger van. However, once there the only thing from Konata that was visible enough to anyone who passed by to notice, was her ahoge sticking up.

Out of nowhere, the younger twin burst into hysterical giggles -making the others startle- as she replayed the cartoonish mental image of a tiny Konata driving a monster van.

_I don't even want to ask whatever it is that she's thinking about, _something told Konata that if she did asked the answer wouldn't please her.

Miyuki and Kagami just stared perplexed as the short-haired girl tried to return to her senses little by little.

"S-sorry . . . I d-didn't . . . mean to . . . l-laugh . . ." panted Tsukasa trying to get her breathing back to normal.

"Yes, umm . . . " although a bit bemused by Tsukasa's sudden giggles, Miyuki went back to Konata. "So you're getting your own car? That's great news! Having your own transportation now a day is very convenient, and it will make your commute from home to college much easier. Don't you think so, too, Kagami-san?"

The twin-tailed girl's pensive eyes danced from Tsukasa's amused, cheesy expression; to Miyuki's passive and calmed smile, and finally ended their route at the mischievous and wicked blue-haired that kept grinning from ear to ear.

Kagami knew what that girl always leads to: trouble.

"Don't get yourself arrested," scolded Kagami, narrowing her eyes to the short girl.

"I'll try not to."

"Well trying is not good enough. I don't want to get a wake-up call from you in the middle of the night asking me to bell you out of jail cause they caught you speeding," . . . _or for other reasons._

"What if it's an emergency?"

"That would depend on the emergency," then Kagami had the sudden thought of picking on the short one. "But anyways, Why do you want to get a minivan for? If you ask me, a van seems too much for you; somehow I can only picture you in one of those mini cars, the ones for just two people. Do you know any, Miyuki?"

"Let's see," tapping her chin, the pink-haired entered wiki mode. "Here in Japan, there's the _Daihatsu e:S_, which stands for 'eco & smart', it's equipped with a conventional mini vehicle engine fitted with a combustion control system developed by _Daihatsu_ and an _EGR_. _Daihatsu_ also has the _Tanto Exe_, its roomy interior can comfortably accommodate four adults, while offering a dynamic and stylish design. There's the _Honda EV-N _concept, which is powered entirely by electricity, and does sport photovoltaic cells on its roof to aid in recharging a lithium-ion battery pack."

"Mmm, I don't know any of those . . . I was thinking of the one that came out in the commercials when they were promoting the new _Nintendo Wii_."

"Oh, you must mean the _Daimler AG Smart_, it's a European micro car manufactured in Hambach, France."

"Yes, that one! The _Smart _car," grinning, she turned to Konata. "You should get a car like that, it fits you perfectly. Just the right size I'd say."

Of course, Konata got ticked off and wasn't really enjoying any of this; she stared back at Kagami with a frown and sour expression as the topic of her height was brought out. She kept sending threatening sparkles to the twin-tailed.

But the tension broke once they heard muffled chuckles coming from Tsukasa; apparently a second mental image of Konata -now driving a chibi car- came to mind, and who can blame her, it's kind of funny.

_Now I really don't want to know what she's thinking_, thought Konata before turning back to Kagami.

"Hey, just because I'm short, doesn't mean I can't drive big cars!" growled Konata like a little kid.

There were very few occasions in which Kagami had the chance to turn the tables around and tease Konata. Whenever that happened, she would do it to get pay back -if just a little- from the small otaku that practically teased her for a living.

Although, this time she picked on Konata for other reasons. On the outside, she wore a not so cruel, yet mocking smile just to keep her act together, but on the inside she was thoroughly enjoying Konata's expressions, squealing like a high school girl who's spying on her crush.

_Darn it! . . . even the faces she makes when mad are kinda cute, too . . . I need to control myself . . . I think my own face is warming up!_

Indeed it was, although her cheeks only had a light pink glow on them. Resting an elbow on the table, and half her face covered by her hand, she turned to the side to hide her spontaneous blush.

"I'm not saying you can't drive them; I'm just saying that a smaller car, or even a regular one would fit you better. So, why the minivan, then?"

This, been the million dollar question, brought back the other girls' attention, too. Miyuki -been the intellectual one- was quite interested in knowing of Konata's reasons to pick that kind of model in particular. Tsukasa -been . . . Tsukasa- was just curious to know as well; so she composed herself, wiped off a tear from laughing and tried to focus on her friend.

Now been the center of attention once again, Konata went back to her usual self.

"Because of the space, of course! There's nothing better than to have a car with lots of space!"

"I have a bad feeling and don't want to ask, but . . . supposedly that's good because?" asked Kagami uneasily.

"Just image how much manga I can bring back home when we go to Comiket! I'm gonna load up that baby to the top with as much as I can get my hands on!" Konata sure was overly excited about this.

"Yeah, I figured it had to be something like that," . . . _so, only something like that can motivate her to actually study? Sure is impressive how passionate she gets, though, _sighed Kagami, but then remembered something. "Wait a minute . . . what do you mean by _we_? Who said anything about going back to Comiket with you?"

Up on hearing this, the younger twin turned kind of pale and sweat-dropped at the thought of going back.

"Oh, c'mon Kagamin, you know you had lots of fun, too!"

"Who in their rightful mind would have fun in a place like that?"

"Wow, s-so you know how to drive now, Kona-chan? That's amazing! Right, Yuki-chan?" Tsukasa wanted to avoid anything related to her last experience at Comiket, so she managed to change the subject.

"Yes, it's quite impressive, Tsukasa-san."

"Yeah, about that . . . I still don't really know how to drive, actually," scratching the back of her head, Konata smiled at them silly. "Oh, but my Dad is gonna teach me during the summer!"

"What about Narumi-san, she's a police officer, right? Wouldn't it be better if she teaches you?"

"Kagami, do you really think it's best to let Yui-neesan teach me how to drive?"

Once again, just hearing this made Tsukasa shiver and her face turned into a pale, blue-ish color. Noticing this made Kagami recall their previous -and somewhat traumatic- experience with Konata's cousin the previews year when they went to the beach.

"You're right. Never mind I asked."

Tsukasa calmly sighed getting back to her color, but flinched afterwards as she heard a strange noise. It sounded like faded, rhythmical murmurs, but they were hard to comprehend.

"I think I'm hearing something," she said, thoughtfully trying to recognize whatever the sound was. Tilting her head, Konata looked at the short-haired as she held her chin in an attempt to hear the sound, too.

"Oh, I can hear it, too," added Miyuki as she slowly turned her eyes across the room. "I think it's coming from Konata-san's closet."

The girls turned to that direction as the sound was getting louder by the second, until it was finally recognized by the twin-tailed.

"Is that . . . music?" said Kagami raising an eyebrow in total confusion.

"My cell-phone!" Konata shouted as she leap from her spot and rushed to the closet, rummaging through her clothes until she found the small device that now played a very audible _Hare Hare Yukai._

"It's my Dad!" announced Konata flipping the phone open. "Hey, Dad! What's up? Shouldn't you be getting on your plane by now?"

Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed the disarray of items that had been dispersed behind her after the pursue of the unknown source of sound.

"Oh, really? That's too bad . . . well, I guess there's nothing you can do about it . . . " holding the phone to her ear with one hand, she stood up and began gathering one by one the items that had been tossed around just moments ago. "Yu-chan? Yeah, Minami-chan came over to pick her up . . . . I know, I know, it's kinda obvious . . . . ha-ha-ha, I'm pretty sure Hiyorin is going to enjoy the view," chuckled Konata as she kept talking.

_How can she talk like that? Has she forgotten that we're still here? _thought Kagami while staring at the bluenette. Not that it actually mattered, since both Tsukasa and Miyuki were now talking about something else.

"Of course I've been studying! You know I never back down from a deal. No matter how difficult this quest ends up being, I will reach my goal!"

_Right, so now studying has become a quest, huh? _Kagami kept thinking without realizing that she was still staring at Konata.

"No, not yet; why do you ask? . . . . you want me to do what?" Konata had finished tossing everything back into the closet and was now heading back to the table. It was until then that Kagami had awaken from her gazing and took her eyes away before Konata had noticed.

Once she had kneeled on her spot, the other girls returned their attention to her. Except maybe for Kagami, since she pretty much was the only one that was paying attention to her just seconds ago, so now she opted to busy herself by nervously scribbling on her notes.

"Sorry Dad, I don't think that's possible . . . . well, it's not that I wouldn't do it, but I'm pretty sure I won't be allowed to . . . . 'cause Kagamin will most likely smack me on the head again . . . . yeah, she already hit me not too long ago . . . . "

_Say what? _the girl been mentioned lift her gaze suspiciously. Konata wore her usual smirk with eyes closed, but it disappeared and now she seemed a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"I rather not talk about _that_ . . . because . . . yeah . . . I know . . . when you get back, I promise . . . 'kay, Dad . . . bye!" she closed the phone, and gave a small sigh before returning to her known grinning.

_Well that was weird, _thought Kagami raising an eyebrow with curiosity. _I wonder what her Dad said to make her shift moods that quickly._

"Is your Father not coming home from his trip tonight, Konata-san?" asked Miyuki.

"He said they found something wrong with the plane -a problem with the smaller wings or something like that- so they had to cancel the flight. And since it's getting kinda late to look for another empty seat back home at the moment, he's gonna wait 'till tomorrow morning to come back."

"I guess it's better than coming home late at night," said Tsukasa.

"I thought so, too," continued Konata, but then her smile curled into a grin. "But then again, now I don't have to bother bout telling him not to sneak into my room while we're studying."

The comment, although disturbing, was no surprise to the other girls, but it did made them sweat-drop just remembering how Konata's Dad loved having high school girls around.

"Hey, why did you told your Dad that I might end up smacking you on the head again?"

"Well . . ." the short otaku thought for a moment, trying to decide whether it would be safe to tell them about what her father had asked for. She told them, anyways. "You know my Dad . . . "

_Yes, of course we know your Dad, Konata. What kind of creepy thing did he wanted now? _thought Kagami awaiting for Konata to answer.

"He wanted to know if we were already on our pajamas, and if I could take pictures of the sleep over," she finished nonchalantly.

" . . . . "

Perturbed by what Konata's Dad had asked for, the girls stared in unison at the blue-haired with a mix of a perplexed and uncomfortable look.

"Okay, I'll take your silence as an inevitable no," sighed Konata, but then grinned back at them with an idea. "Can I at least take pictures to keep for myself?"

"No!" as always, Kagami responded immediately to such suggestion.

"C'mon! I won't be showing them to Dad," pleaded Konata with her fake puppy-dog eyes.

"I-said-NO!" finished Kagami as she waved a clinched fist at the short fellow, making her back away a little and holding her hands open in front as a shield.

"Okay, okay . . . whatever you say, Kagami-sama," smirked Konata.

"Quit calling me that! And it's because of the disturbing things you say that I end up hitting you!" this went back to Konata's unexpected blurt of the word 'sex' just earlier.

"Oh, now that you mention it," Konata had remembered it, too, and turned to Miyuki and Tsukasa. "What do you guys think it's the difference between having sex and making love?"

"E-eeh?" stuttered Tsukasa turning a few shades of red, but she wasn't the only one. The pink-haired meganekko -muted by Konata's question- shaded a crimson red that was slightly deeper than Tsukasa's.

Although the one that won gold on color deepness was the flustered tsundere that kept her face down, as it appeared that steam was raising from all the boiling anger her blood was experiencing at the moment, making her hands squeeze and tremble with irritation.

-WHACK-

Konata didn't saw it coming, all she knew was that something of a great force made an accurate impact on the top of her head, spreading a huge deal of pain throughout her entire skull. She tightly closed her eyes as their vision became dimmed, and she could have swearer seen fireworks going off behind the obscurity of her eyelids.

"Aaaaagh!" as the bluenette laid on the floor -holding to keep it from falling apart what it felt like a shattered head between her hands- Kagami returned to her seat, painfully shaking the hand that was used as a weapon.

"Damn, Kagami! That hurt even worse than the last one!"

"Well, it serves you right!"

"There's nothing wrong with what I asked!"

"Yes, there is!"

"Kagami, you're a high school girl and you've never asked yourself that question?"

"Why would I even ask something like that in the first place?"

"I dunno . . . curiosity?" said Konata while rubbing the stingy, burning area on her head. "I'm feeling a big lump now . . . . but seriously, though, I don't think there's nothing wrong with having a conversation about it once in a while," then she tap her chin looking upwards. "Come to think of it, we've never really had one before."

There was another silence, which was used by the flustered girls -although still embarrassed- to retrieve to their natural color. Surprisingly, Tsukasa was the first to talk.

"U-umm . . . I'm not really sure about s-sex, but I think that when it comes to making love, it only involves those who are _in love_ with each other . . . t-that's what I think," she finished facing down as she tap her fingers together, a pink glow on her cheeks reappearing again.

Kagami stared at her younger sister with eyes and mouth wide open, completely speechless.

"Actually," now it was Miyuki's turn to get some attention as she clear her voice. "I remember reading an article that talked about this subject in particular. In the author's opinion, sex without love was considered a lustful crave to satisfy a sexual need. Not thinking much about the other person but to only ease a physical yearning instead."

She fixed her glasses before continuing with her monologue. Kagami was just getting in a state of shock with what she was hearing.

"But when there's love involve, sex is a form of bonding and sharing their sexual needs with only the person they're in love with. That love can create a chemistry between two people, completely different from the sheer lust of satisfying a physical need," the pink-haired finished.

"So in another words, love making is for lovers and sex is for . . . acquaintances?" asked Konata.

"Well, I suppose you could say that. Although I'm not sure there's an actual answer for your question, I guess it depends on what people think about it."

"Hmm, who do you think would want what?"

"Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by that," stated Miyuki with a timid smile.

"You know, what boys want or what do girls want."

"Oh, I couldn't say . . . I'm not really sure," Miyuki looked down, tapping her chin while thinking about it.

"What about you Tsukasa?"

"I-I'm not sure either," the short-haired thought for a moment and then continued. "But since girls are more sensible, wouldn't they think of it in a more romantic way?"

"Mmm, that actually makes sense somehow . . ." agreed Konata crossing her arms.

They slowly were getting more into the conversation as if it was nothing -kind of like talking about a new recipe or whatever new movie was coming up- with the exception of a certain mauve-haired girl that kept herself away from the trio.

She wasn't paying much attention to their conversation now -actually, she wasn't even listening- and she hadn't said a single word. Kagami was just looking down at her notes with a lost stare, deep in thought. Somehow this subject made her realize something she didn't thought about.

_What Miyuki said kinda makes sense_, she thought. _I think that . . . when people want to satisfy their physical needs, they would just have s-sex . . . when it comes to love, they would make love with their lover . . . . but either way, they're gonna end up sleeping with someone . . . . so what _is _the difference?_

Her thought process stopped for a second as a possible answer appeared on her mind. Kagami wasn't a 100% sure it was the right one, but somehow it just made perfect sense to her.

_Desire . . . it all depends on what you desire the most._

* * *

**A/N:** That's actually what I think is the difference between sex and making love. What do you desire the most?

Mini-cars: I particularly like the _Smart_ car and the _Toyota iQ_ -which I forgot to include in the chapter- as for the other ones, I don't really know much about 'em except for what I read. Oh, and I love the _Mini Cooper, _too!

Anyways, hope you liked the chapter, and sorry for the delay. Please review.


	8. Desires

Finally, another chapter completed. Sorry for the wait, I've been having Internet problems lately, but that didn't stop me from writing . . . okay, maybe it did stop me from updating earlier . . .

You know what's worse than getting burned with hot steam? . . . getting burned with hot oil! I tell you, looks like someone painted spots on my arm, haha. I really like to cook, but for some reason I always end up having to use a band-aid or something else afterwards. That's my clumsiness for you, if you could call it that.

Anyways . . . I'd a little trouble writing the first part, I hope it ends up been of your liking. Please review afterwards!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Desires**

In order to avoid been asked for her opinion on whatever the difference between one thing and the other was -for obvious reasons- Kagami had to think of something -anything- to change the course of their conversation, and quick.

She thought of something, and almost slapped herself for it, but seeing that there was no other thing that would actually capture and switch Konata's attention, Kagami had no other option at the moment but to use that excuse, even if it meant going into a dispute -which she was mentally preparing herself to- with the short fellow.

The argument used by Kagami to diverge the conversation, was her sudden announcement to the short bluenette that she was, as a matter of fact, hungry.

Just as she had expected, Konata went into teasing mode and began making fun of Kagami's appetite and the importance of it to the point of actually asking to be fed. So after arguing for several minutes over this matter, both Kagami and Miyuki were left alone, still going over their notes while Konata and Tsukasa had stepped out of the room to prepare dinner.

"Kagami-san?" Miyuki had waited just a couple of more minutes before asking Kagami about her sudden request.

"I know what you're gonna say, Miyuki, and yes, I did that on purpose."

"I see," her question had been answered, Kagami intentionally brought the subject of food in order to avoid the talk about the 'S' word. "I figured the conversation made you feel uncomfortable, since you kept quiet all the time. Although we didn't actually spoke of the _specifics_."

True, the girls participating in the conversation jumped from one topic to another. They'd spoken from differences between sex and love making, to what girls and guys thought about it, to birth control pills, and for some reason they ended up talking about why girls would end up eating chocolate ice cream when they were heartbroken; thus, giving Kagami the chance to meddle into the conversation in order to end it.

"I guess it was more uncomfortable having Tsukasa around to hear things like that, but then it turned out kinda awkward hearing what _she _thought about it," sighed Kagami who was still a bit irritated from the little dispute she had to endure with Konata moments ago. "I'm surprised you talked about it as well, Miyuki."

"Well, it's not like I've never given it any thought about it," a shy glow appeared on the pink-haired. "But I have to admit I'm glad Konata-san didn't depth the topic into the specifics of it."

"Got that right," agreed Kagami as they both share a chuckle. They paused for a moment, which the mauve-haired used to losing up a bit. Miyuki took notice of it before continuing.

"Does Kagami-san have a different opinion about it?" she waited patiently for the tsundere's reply.

Kagami had thought about it. Could she talk about it with Miyuki? She did felt comfortable having her around; Miyuki was a good listener to share your thoughts with, and of course, an adviser when you need it.

_I think it's better than talking with Tsukasa,_ she thought._ I mean she's my sister and all, but it's just too embarrassing to even mention it around her._

The other option was Konata, but was discarded almost immediately.

_There's just no freaking way I'll talk about that in front of _her_! I'm pretty sure she'll just make fun of me . . . like always._ So she opted to actually give it a try with Miyuki; aside from the other two, she was the best option for now.

"What you said earlier kinda makes sense," started the pig-tailed, feeling a bit nervous about it. "People who share mutual feelings would, umm . . . m-make love together. And those who just want to satisfy their own needs would, err- . . . have the other."

"Sex?" a not-too-shy Miyuki said, which took Kagami by surprise.

"Y-yeah," she rustle a few sheets of paper together and avoided eye contact with Miyuki, who simply kept smiling as she read from her own notes, awaiting for Kagami to feel comfortable enough to speak on her own. "But either way, they're gonna end up sleeping with someone, so it's almost the same thing if you look at it from outside."

Knowing that Kagami was more relaxed talking about it, Miyuki nodded in agreement as she gathered all her notes and placed them inside a book.

"So what do you think it's the difference between them?" she looked up at Kagami, still wearing her pleasant smile.

Although she was getting a bit embarrassed, Kagami knew that it would be helpful to talk about what was on her mind. She took a deep breath, and turned to her pink-haired friend who patiently waited for her reply.

"Desire," she said.

"Desire?"

"Y-yeah, I mean . . . it depends on what you desire the most," she cleared her voiced, moved her notes aside to place her elbows on the table, and continued. "If you have physical, err . . urges, you would just have sex to satisfy your needs, right? But if you're in love with someone, and wish to be with them, then of course you make love to them. I mean, that's pretty obvious, otherwise it wouldn't be called- . . . "

"Making love?" finished Miyuki for her.

" . . . yeah."

They were silent again, but it wasn't that awkward silent in which they were earlier. It was more like the kind of silent that you need to gather your next question, which it so happened to be Kagami's case.

"Miyuki," she wasn't really sure whether to ask this question or not, but at the end decided that there was no one else that she could ask this to. "Do you think there's difference between liking someone and been in love with someone? Is the same thing, isn't?"

Miyuki thought for a moment. Sure they sounded the same, somehow, but were they really? No.

"I believe that," began Miyuki. "When you like someone, more than a friend, you enjoy their company at any moment. You want to see them, you want to talk to them, and you want to be with them. There are times in which you'll find yourself staring at them, you began dreaming of them, and without realizing it you pay more attention at every little detail about them. You may want to hold hands with them, embrace them . . . even kiss them."

She paused for a moment and took off her glasses to clean. Kagami waited silently as she watched the girl in front placing her spectacles back on.

"But I think that the one thing that differentiates them both, the final step towards love, is the same thing you just answered a moment ago."

" . . . . " by the look on Kagami's face, she didn't really follow. With a subtle chuckle, Miyuki simply continued.

"What I meant to say is, that when you get to the point in which you feel that holding hands, hugging, and kissing is not enough for you; when you feel that there's something else missing, something that you need, something that you crave, you realize that that special someone is the only one that possesses all you lack, and all you want. In another words, you realize a need for a more . . . intimate contact with that someone."

Finally those last lines where getting somewhere within Kagami's comprehension as a pink glow rose up to her cheeks and a sweat drop rolled down her neck.

"Y-you mean . . . w-when you want to- . . ." stutter the twin-tailed

"Make love to them," Miyuki continued from her. "And why would you want to make love to them?"

" . . . b-because you," Kagami look up to Miyuki, still wearing that bright blush across her face. The glasses-girl gave a gentle smile and encourage the tsundere to finish that line with a soft nod. "Because you . . . desire them."

Silence fell once again for a couple of minutes, but it got disturbed by someone's skipping steps that came from the hallway, becoming more audible with each step.

When the sound died, there was a knock on the door before been opened by the short blue-haired, who wore a white apron, had her hair tied back into a pony tail, and was holding a large spoon on one hand.

"Master," she announced directly at Kagami in a cheesy tone. "Dinner is ready. Would you like to eat now, maybe take a bath first? . . . or- WOAAH!" she never got to finish the last part due to an unknown flying object -one of Kagami's books, to be precise- that made its way towards the short otaku that had to run away before getting hit.

-o-o-o-

Kagami suddenly woke up from a dream, staring into a foreign ceiling, and panting awkwardly under a cold sweat. She abruptly sit up, grasping her chest with one hand as her heart pounded heavily against it, making her breathing hard to control as well. And then there was also the strange sensation she had in her dream still lingering through her somewhat tensed body.

Looking around, her eyes stopped at the clock that was on the desk in front of her, next to a computer. [4:37am] the digits read this time, however, the place was -although still dimmed- well illuminated by a light post not too far away from outside the window.

Taking a more closer look around, Kagami remembered she was in Konata's room, sleeping in the futon that had been laid down for her next to the bed, just a couple of feet away.

Realization slapped her with a cold hand. Heavily gulping under immense sweat-drops, and grasping the sheets of the futon with trembling hands, she turned very slowly towards the bed.

There she was, sleeping with her face towards Kagami, in a deep slumber. Although the light coming from outside the window was a bit distant, it was more than enough to notice her features quite well.

At the precise moment her sapphire eyes gazed at the bluenette -whose face now happened to be at the same level of the tsundere's- a stream of flashbacks from the dream that woke her just seconds ago came pouring down on her.

It only took that moment to have all the blood from her body rise up to her face. Startle, Kagami crawled backwards until her back reached the low table -still occupied with books and notes from the previews night- dragging the sheets of the futon along; without taking her eyes away from the still sleeping Konata.

She was gipping the sheets now with both hands -shaking furiously- just above her chest. Even her teeth were clenched together as she kept staring with panic spread all over her face.

It took her almost three minutes for her to return to her senses . . . or at least some of them.

Her eyes glanced at the door, then back at Konata, and back at the door again one more time. Taking one last glance at Konata, and making sure she hadn't heard anything, Kagami slowly began to move in direction of the door, crawling on her hands and knees as quietly as possible.

When she finally arrived at the door, she reached for the handle and turned it very carefully, throwing a quick glance behind as she heard the rustle sounds of Konata moving around in her sleep, then exited the room with all the stealthiest she could handle at the moment.

Not knowing very well how she managed to walk down the stairs without losing her valance, Kagami found herself sitting on the couch of the living room, resting her chin on her knees as she hug them together against her still pounding chest, and trying to ignore the mental pictures from her dream. But it was no good.

Images of Konata and her rapidly began reproducing themselves on the back of her eyes like a slide show. She could even hear a voice speaking each image, echoing within the insides from ear to ear, making her body tensed up.

Kagami saw things from her other self's point of view, and the first thing she became well aware of were of hers' and Konata's clothing, or more accurately, the lack of it. This only caused the mauve-haired to become even more flustered than what she already was.

_[ . . . her hair, a deep-blue silky waterfall that feels so soft when it runs between my fingers as I stroke it . . . ]_ she heard the voice speak in thoughts. It was her own.

_[ . . . those emerald green eyes that lure me into a captivated trance with every glance of hers, getting closer and closer towards me . . . my sight wonders to the beauty mark on the corner of her eye and I'm tempted to kiss it, but end up caressing it instead . . . ] _Kagami closed her eyes tightly, thinking that the images will fade away like that, but it didn't work.

_[ . . . I don't remove my touch, I don't want to, because the warmth that my fingertips have discovered keeps spreading through my entire body, and it feels so good . . . makes me want more . . . ] _besides keeping her eyes glued together, now she covered her ears with shivering hands, trying to prevent any voice from entering. But the voice was coming from within her and couldn't be stopped.

_[ . . . slowly, I slide my hand down her cheek, pressing my thumb slightly across her soft lips, then trace her jaw line and create a trail down her neck until I make a stop at her collar bone . . . my eyes follow their own path now, exploring the rest of her exposed body, making my vital organ pound harder against my chest . . . ] _at this point, her body began acting awkwardly. There was another sensation, a strange pulling within her stomach that burned and scattered a yearning feeling all around with vibrating waves.

_[ . . . my own body is now craving for hers, longing for her warmth . . . to feel her smooth, bare skin against my own . . . ] _Kagami violently shook her head, as the images of both her and Konata completely nude where closing in to each other. The burning that built up inside becoming more intense; she could even feel her own flesh getting hotter and hotter, making her face drown in a deep crimson red.

_[ . . . I look up to her with pleading eyes, for I cannot prolong this desire any more . . . I want her, I need her . . . she smiles back in approval, reaches for my hand, that had been on her collar bone all the time, and intertwined our fingers . . . ] _panicking, she buried her face between her knees. Her body, sweated from the heat it was releasing, wouldn't stop shaking as the yearning sensation tingled through her body like strikes of lightning.

_[ . . . a gentle warmth caresses my heart when I saw that smile, and those luring eyes of hers . . . tightening the grip of our hands, I stroke away very slowly a lock of her silky hair that had fallen on her face . . . I can't help it but smile back at her . . . ]_

_[ . . . I trace my hand down her torso, sliding my touch under her arm and across her back as I grab a hold of her body, bringing it in to merge with mine . . . holding her tightly to me, I can feel the pounding of her chest against mine . . . slowly, I lean in for a kiss . . . for her lips . . . her soft, tender lips . . . ] _it was that very image in which the figures of both her and Konata -completely nude and embracing together- that were the last thing Kagami was able to remember as they were snatched from view and disappeared into pitch darkness.

It was at this point, that Kagami's body heat had become unbearable, and the unfamiliar yearning didn't make it any more easier to handle. So she stood up and immediately rushed towards the bathroom, locked herself in, took her pajamas off, opened the shower on cold, and got herself under the water.

_Why did I ever ask Miyuki that question?_

* * *

**A/N: **There goes one of my fantasies . . . I shouldn't have said that.

This will be the last chapter regarding their weekend; it definitely needs to move on. Next chapter will take place after the exams . . . maybe. Not a hundred percent sure yet, but somewhere along those lines.

Reviews please!


	9. Gummy Bears

First thing first . . *kneels, places both hands in front of her and bows* . . My most sincere apologizes for my absence from this fic. I won't say much at the moment, so please proceed with the reading and I hope it's of your liking. Thank you.

Again, sorry for such long, long delay.

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, Lucky Star does not belong to me.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Gummy Bears**

"Time's up, everybody. Put your pencils down and start passing down your exams to the front desk," announced the blond-haired teacher while scanning through her pupils and making sure they were doing as told. Until she spotted the short bluenette still scribbling on her paper.

"Izumi, I said time's up," there was no respond from the girl. Not wanting to repeat herself, Kuroi did the next thing that came to mind to catch the girl's attention. She threw a chalk at Konata.

But even though the projectile thrown with great accurately -not bad for the baseball fanatic- hit the base of her ahoge and bounce away, she still didn't respond. This only made Kuroi lose her temper and stomped towards Konata's desk, rolling up a few of the exams she had already collected.

-SMACK-

". . . ow-ow-ow!" whimpered Konata while holding her head. "Sensei, that was totally uncalled for!"

"Well, next time _do _as you're told, _when _you're told!" Kuroi said a bit irritated as she collected Konata's exam and scanned through it making sure all questions had been answered.

"By the way," she continued now looking through all the papers. "I didn't saw you online during the weekend. Normally I would be the one trying to keep you logged off, but not seeing you there was just weird. You been doing something else?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I have," declared the blue-haired with a sparkle in her eyes. "I've embarked in the most challenging quest to ever cross my path!"

"Really? So you started playing another game without even inviting your comrade in arms?"

"No, no, no; it's not an actual game, ma'am," said Konata dismissively. "It's just this deal my Dad and I made the other day."

"And what kinda deal did ya' make? If you don't mind me asking."

Konata cleared her voice, sit up properly on her desk and began talking with a finger held in the air as if lecturing her one person audience.

"Well, basically I get to choose whatever car model I want, if I'm able to collect five perfect scores on any exams we take from here until the end of the school year," she said with a pleased smile.

Just like the first time Konata told the others about this event of hers, she sort of got the same reaction from Kuroi. The blond-haired pretty much wore a blank expression; for some reason this kind of information required an extra amount of time to be processed and acknowledge. The only thing that seemed different was the reaction afterwards.

"Wa-ha-ha-ha! . . . You? Getting a perfect score? Like that's ever gonna happen!" in this case Kuroi followed Tsukasa's example of a laugh, although hers was more of a burlesque laughter than the innocent chuckles from the short-haired miko.

And unlike Tsukasa's comical interpretation of seeing her short friend driving a vehicle larger than Konata, she thought it was simply amusing to even think that Konata could actually get a perfect score on anything that was school related.

"You really don't think I can make a perfect score, do you?" asked Konata as her lips began to curl mischievously.

"Hah! . . . Izumi, you can barely make a decent passing grade on your exams, but to actually get a perfect score?"

"You shouldn't underestimate me that easily, Sensei. I actually spent the entire weekend studying; you can ask Tsukasa! We had a study session at my place an- . . . " Konata glanced at Tsukasa for confirmation, but trailed off as she noticed her somewhat exhausted friend rubbing her temples.

"You okay, Tsukasa? Were the exams too hard for you?" grinned Konata in a confident tone.

"It just felt like my brain kept expanding with every question I read, and now it doesn't know how to return to its normal size . . . that took most of the little energy I had," sighed Tsukasa while resting her head on the table.

"Cheer up!" Konata leaned closer and patted her shoulder. "Lunch bell should ring any minute now, and you'll regain your strength once you've had something to eat- . . . oh yeah, isn't true we had a study session during the weekend? We did, right?"

"Huh? . . . err- . . . yeah?" Tsukasa, oblivious to their conversation, seemed confused by the question.

"See? I told you I've been studying!" pounded Konata, but her eyes suddenly lighten by the click of a light-bulb right above her ahoge. "Sensei, how would you like to get a brand new video game for free?"

"I'm listening," said Kuroi raising an eyebrow and placing both hands on her hip. Use the words 'video,' 'game' and 'free' in one sentence, and you'll have her devoted attention.

"You said that there's no way I can actually get a perfect score in the exams, right?"

"That's correct."

"Well then, what do you say we have ourselves a little bet on whether or not I can get a perfect score on at least one of the exams?"

At this point, Kuroi completely forgot about picking up the rest of the exams. Even a puzzle Tsukasa staring from friend to teacher was ignored.

Three minutes passed followed by the bell signaling lunch time, pretty much what it took for Konata and Kuroi to finish up with the details of their bet.

"Alright, then we'll settle this once I bring the exams graded tomorrow," announced Kuroi as she collected the rest of the exams and headed back to her desk. "Don't back down once you see the results!"

"Right back at ya'!" Konata gave a victorious grin to the back of Kuroi. Noticing that the other girls had taken their lunch boxes out, she took hers out as well and headed to her usual spot, just as Kagami was walking in their class.

Once everyone had gathered to eat, Konata told them about her little bet with Kuroi. Tsukasa and Miyuki listened very carefully, finding the bet to be quite interesting. As for Kagami, she thought that even the single idea of betting with a teacher was ridiculous.

But after thinking about it for a minute, she thought it was even more ridiculous to think of Kuroi as a 'regular' teacher.

"Seriously, you people are like birds of a flock," sighed Kagami whilst twirling with a lock of her hair. Sighing a second time, she began getting out of her seat and collecting her lunch box.

"You're leaving already, Sis?"

"Yeah, there're stuff I need get ready for next class . . . I'll see you guys after school," and with a hand wave she head to the door. Not before been followed by a pair of violet orbs that examined the older twin from behind round spectacles.

While all four girls were still eating –and without them noticing- Miyuki would occasionally throw discrete glances at Kagami. Although minor, she began to notice a few things in the twin-tailed girl ever since their study session that caught her attention. To the untrained eye, things were just normal with Kagami; to Miyuki, there was something odd about her.

But for now, she decided to keep this thought to herself.

-o-o-o-

The bell rang once again, this time announcing the end of school for that day.

Kagami began putting her books away just as Ayano and Misao were saying their goodbyes to the twin-tailed from the door. Once she was all settle and ready to go, she left the classroom and headed to her sister's.

So far it had been a really good school day –that is, the last half of it- without any mishaps or the other that might affect her mood. But then again, the day seemed too good to be truth, she just had this hunch that this day was far from being a good day. First thing she noticed when reaching the door were both Tsukasa and Miyuki standing right next to Konata's desk, whose head seemed to be resting on said desk.

Noticing that Kagami had arrived, Tsukasa waved for her to approached them, a sheepishly smile on the younger twin. Sighing, she approached their small gathering, and not only did she found it a bit strange for her sister to wear a bemused expression, but even Miyuki's funny looking smile also seemed out of place.

"Look Sis, Kona-chan fell asleep on the last half of class and now she's talking in her sleep," pointed Tsukasa in a whisper at the blue-haired Rapunzel while trying to hold a sudden giggle.

_And she made fun of me for sleep talking when sick?_ Thought Kagami, but then curiosity got the better of her and she got closer, standing behind Tsukasa to have a better view from over her shoulder.

And there she was, fast asleep. More than talking, she seemed to be mumbling nonsense to herself. Kagami couldn't help but to stare in awe at such vulnerable creature as it slept. Time froze for a minute; a moment in which Kagami had the enough time to eye the sleeping girl in slow motion, taking account of every little detail of her features.

The way a small lock of her silky blue hair slightly fell over her smooth cheek seemed like a glistening stream to Kagami. Sapphire eyes traveled to Konata's dark and large eyelashes, _I never noticed how big and beautiful they were._

Her sight slowly traveled south and stopped at those slightly parted rosy lips. Which just happened to be adorned by . . . a drool. That definitely took the enchantment away, but then again:

_That .. looks .. so .. adorable!_

The increase in temperature from her cheeks brought her back to reality, ending that eternal minute that almost consumed her. Gulping, she approached her sleeping beauty and lightly shook her shoulder.

"Hey Konata, school's already over!" and in the blink of an eye, she sit up half asleep.

". . . damn it, my summon monsters have been annihilated!"* shouted Konata rising her arms in the air, somehow messing up her hair in the process. This made both Tsukasa and Miyuki to suppress even more giggles, especially when they noticed Konata's left cheek completely covered in a pink glow, even her ear was rosy.

"Kona-chan .. y-your cheek .. is all red!" Tsukasa couldn't control her chuckles anymore. It was a good thing Konata didn't noticed, though, as she lazily rubbed the numbness on the left side of her face. But Tsukasa's sniggers became even more audible once she noticed small, yet barely visible coiled markings from the bluenette's spiral notebook on that reddened cheek of hers.

"Mmm, so much for an ambush. I ended up losing anyways," Konata was definitely still drowsy to not hear Tsukasa laugh.

_I guess there's no need to ask what she was dreaming about,_ thought Kagami as she stared at a yawing Konata rubbing her sleepy eyes awake.

"For how long was I asleep?" a dazed Konata wondered.

"I believe your head dropped down around the second half of class," the pink-haired meganekko informed her.

"You know, Kona-chan usually snoozes in the mornings and she's more active in the afternoons when we're about to leave from school," Tsukasa stated after finally getting back to her senses. "I wonder why today was the other way around."

"Mmm, might have been 'cause of the exams. I'd to keep my mind awake this time in order to concentrate and keep focus," the short girl deduced while stretching her arms; then she brought a hand down over by her left ear and began fanning some air to it.

"Are you okay, Izumi-san?"

"Feels like my ear is burning."

"Look Sis, her ear's still red," pointed out Tsukasa to a dumbfound Kagami.

As for the twin-tailed in question, those sapphire eyes of hers were glued to Konata's ear. And it might had been because it already had been hours since they had lunch, not that it was much of a surprise, but whatever it was it made Kagami crave for something to eat.

This time, because of this rare sight of Konata's blushing red ear, for some reason the image of sweet gummy-bears came to mind. Along with a somewhat disturbing thought.

_I wonder if it would feel like eating one if I were to nibble on that earlobe of hers._

"Someone must be thinking about me, heh-heh."

". . . . ." whatever film had been playing this sudden fantasy of hers nibbling on Konata's ear, it probably burned down the screen after that unexpected comment.

"Isn't that what they say?" continued Konata as she touched her ear to measure its temperature. "That your ears burn when someone's thinking about you?"

"I thought it was when someone talked about you," said Tsukasa.

"No, that's what makes you sneeze. But I think I heard somewhere bout having your ears burning when someone's thinking about you. Have you heard about it, Miyuki?"

They carried on with this topic unaware that a certain tsundere had sneaked out of their sight and waited silently by the door, clearing her mind from disturbing fantasies that kept crawling in her mind. After a couple of minutes or so, she called out the others.

"Are you guys gonna stay there all day or are we leaving?" she said with the most annoyed tone she could muster. Not that she was annoyed, actually, but frustrated for having her mind wonder off to such places.

Tsukasa was the first to hurry to her twin's side, followed by Miyuki who kept listening to a more talkative Konata –compared to the one from just minutes ago- as she walked beside her talking about trying to sneeze with open eyes.

The trio continued with their conversation as they exited the school gates, whilst Kagami opted to keep her distance a few steps ahead of them. Fortunately for Kagami, because of the fact that she had finally understood and accepted her feelings for the bluenette, she became more aware of a few things to look out for.

For instance, her behavior. Kagami had to make sure to keep it normal, or at least close to what she thought was normal. Another thing, very important, was to try and avoid as much as possible physical contact with Konata. Luckily for her, days prior to the exams had been free of any sort of interaction from the short girl. Kagami had to admit how impressive it was to see how Konata kept to herself by reading actual school books for once. But now that the exams were finally over, she would have to pay very close attention to any of Konata's movements.

However, here was the tricky part; how is Kagami going to keep an eye on Konata's actions without actually ending up been drawn by the sudden wish to simply contemplate with a longing and yearning desire for her friend? Definitely, this wasn't going to be easy.

_I can do this,_ she thought._ I know I can make it work somehow. Yes, I'll do my best!_

"Kagamin~!" taking a deep breath and more confident than ever, she turned with a serene smile to the one that called out for her.

"What is it Kona-_OOF_!" next thing she knows two petite arms found themselves around her waist, crushing her affectionately and not giving any signs of letting go any time soon.

"I missed this so much!" muttered Konata as she nuzzled her face even more into Kagami. And in a split second, Kagami's face had gone from a pale color to a deep crimson red, with wide open eyes at such an attack from her beloved crush.

_I c-can't .. I don't think I can do this after all!_

* * *

**A/N:** Again, I'm so sorry for getting back to this story after over a year and a half since its last update. The reason . . well there are too many to speak of right now, so I rather not get into tedious details.

Frankly, I'm not really sure when the next chapter will be ready. All the outlines I'd for the remaining chapters for this fic were lost along with all my files when my old laptop pretty much died on me. What a tragic day that was.

However, that doesn't mean I'm giving up on this story! It might take me a while to come back to it with the next chapter, but I will come back!

So, until then .. please read and review, thank you.

BTW: *[". . . damn it, my summon monsters have been annihilated!"] . . first one to guess from which anime this line is gets a cookie! XD


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